I have a friend. She is so awesome. I don’t even think that she knows how awesome she is. It isn’t that she thinks bad about herself like some people do, she just doesn’t know her true awesomeness.

She is so strong. She handles adversity or bumps in the road with such a strength and self-assuredness that you would never know that there is anything wrong. Maybe she doesn’t feel strong on the inside, but to the people who matter, she is the rock that they can turn to when in those situations.

She has her shit together, too. It’s funny (or not), but a lot of people look at her and they think that she is messed up or somehow less than they are because of the fact that she has tattoos and piercings. They think that in no way could she possibly be a good mommy. They could not be more wrong. She is a great mommy who loves her children very much and tries her best to make the best decisions that she can for her family. She totally loves her husband and works very hard at her marriage, too.

Her wisdom astonishes me. She is much younger than I, and like the little sister that I always wanted but never had, and yet, she has figured out things that I haven’t managed to learn. There are times when I am sad or angry or upset in some way and she will point out to me some piece of logic that I somehow missed and all of a sudden, it all becomes so much easier, so much clearer. I am left scratching my head and thinking, “why didn’t I see it that way?”

She might think that when I tell her I love her that I am just saying the words without feeling the feeling, but she would be wrong. I have come to cherish her as a true friend and big part of my life.

You probably know her, too. Her alias is Bluepaintred, but most of the time, I call her Blue.