Today is Halloween. It’s a spooky and magical night. Costume ready? Pillowcase pulled from the linen closet to hold your haul? Ready to watch the Great Pumpkin, the ritual cartoon from the Peanuts gang? Or are you more the Starbucks’ Pumpkin Latte type?

I gained a true friend at a different coffee shop, Kean’s. She was LIT UP, keen to support area authors, her desire undisguised. What she served up was a lot-tay to like.

She is dedicated, a real friend, one who has my back, which seldom genuinely occurs in real life.

And, I have hers. You betcha, by golly, and darn-tooting. She doesn’t toot her own horn, so I do.

She lit me up when I was a newly-minted author, beginning the publicity wagon train with all my well-intentioned self, but without clues. I reached out to a dozen friends and nine showed up, filling the tables at Kean, along with three of her compadres. Bond born!

Her build-up continued, as when I sorely needed a come-together-of-spirit, handing me a bouquet of flowers that I should have awarded myself. Just for making it through a trying time, alone in a cave of my husband’s pride. Unbidden gifts are highly prized.

She set me up to shine, an event sabotaged by a fall – as personal lesson to slow down and to not succumb to an unrelenting pace that I couldn’t stride. Her help sorely needed again. She’s angel, after all.

I reciprocate as I can, give presents as well as presence, to support and acknowledge her endeavors. I once deflected a podium zap that lit up her lightning rod head, reflexive for a friend. It’s what I do for a kindred ‘Strong, Smart, and Bold’ GR-R-L. It’s the Golden Rule, an arena where most folks lapse 🙁

It’s a mad world achievers live in. She’s a vortex, as am I. Life works better when women stand side-by-side, in cooperation rather than competition, a lesson most seem destined to not learn 🙁

She’s singular, one of the few who live the lesson learned. We abide. (great costume idea. Do I have time to grow a beard and purchase a sweater at Goodwill?)

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