Our friendship began in 1971 at Huffman Elementary School in Birmingham, Alabama when we were starting 1st grade and ready to conquer the world...or so we thought. We immediately became inseparable and became a challenge for our teachers. Nena thought Kristi was the coolest friend for a number of reasons, but one of the main reasons was that her mom and Nana worked in our lunchroom cafeteria.
It was so neat that Kristi got to see them every day at lunch plus got popsicles whenever she wanted (or so it seemed!).
By the end of 2nd grade our friendship became unbearable for our beautiful teacher, Mrs. King, and she preceded to inform our moms that she was officially requesting that we be put in separate classrooms in the 3rd grade. We were absolutely devastated by the news and thought the world was coming to an end.
Somehow we survived and our friendship only got stronger. Once we got old enough we were allowed to walk to each other's house
and talk on the phone for hours. We knew each other's parents like they were our own.
and talk on the phone for hours. We knew each other's parents like they were our own.
After 8th grade we were ready to test our friendship in high school where our small class would be thrown together with many other elementary schools. Would we remain friends as we began dating and driving or drift apart? We survived and helped each other through thick and thin plus added another friend, Joy, to our pact. We discussed every date in extreme detail and tried our best to figure out how boys were wired. With no cell phones, text messages, Facebook, or email, how did we ever have boyfriends? The answer is that we used our cars to their fullest potential. As long as we had gas $ we could drive by boy's houses over and over and over again. Nena drove a burgundy Cutlas Supreme 
and Kristi drove a green Toyota Corolla, nicknamed 'the Snot Mobile. 
We put so many miles on those cars driving the same streets at all hours of the day and night. There were many times when we snuck Nena's car out late at night to drive to Taco Bell for burrito supremes and never gained an ounce. 
After high school we went our separate ways. We stayed in contact as best we could. Remember when long distance phone charges applied? Well, that was a huge factor in our inability to communicate because we had no other way to chat. Before long we were drifting further and further a part, both married and living in different cities and eventually different states.
Then...in December 2010 we reunited in a mighty way at a Christmas dinner with Joy. After catching up on each other's pasts, we realized that our lives were on the most amazing parallel paths. From that point on we have been joined together to write and speak. We are enjoying the most wonderful time exploring our true passion and it never feels like work.
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