My "classified" friend

It's been about eighteen months since the last time I posted in the personal section of my local craigslist.

I found myself in the not uncommon position of being friendless. (I'm not counting my BFF, she's more like a sister.) But, after five years of being an at-home mom, I no longer had friends from work. No relatives lived close enough to hang out with. And the few mothers I met were not interested, or able, to get out of the house and do things together. So I tried posting for a friend in the local craiglist under the platonic section.

The first person that responded emailed me four or five times but never came through with an actual time to meet. I re-posted. The second person that responded was a stay-at-home mom close to my own age and we met at Ihop for coffee one evening. Her name was Leticia.

Leticia is a Civil Engineer who stopped working to stay home with two girls. Like me, it wasn't a natural environment for her. She was looking for someone to meet for coffee in the evenings, some adult conversation. She's also an avid writer and is always learning new things. We hit it off immediately.

We met at Ihop every week for four months, then started meeting at each others house. Family members were introduced. We've been to their daughters birthday party, and they've attended two of Will's.

Every month during my pregnancy, Leticia would buy me a large box of diapers in different sizes. I'd show up for coffee, and they would be sitting there. Like it was no big thing. Then towards the end of my pregnancy she told me that she would watch Linden one afternoon every week after he was born.

I'll admit I didn't expect her to go through with it. I had several friends, neighbors, and acquaintances say similar things during my pregnancy. (Take a wild guess on how many have watched Linden?)

Yep, just Leticia.

Each time she's watched him, Linden has cried nearly the entire time shes had him, but she doesn't let it phase her. She's calm about the entire thing and just keeps offering. The earth moves a little bit each time she so calmly says, "So, same time next week?"

I don't think she realizes what an amazing gift she's giving me. And I've not been very successful at expressing my gratitude ... she just pushes my thanks aside.

Well, I might have found her in the classified section, but when it comes to friendship ... I'd have to classify her as a true friend. And a blessing.