In what seems like a lifetime ago (well, several decades), I left my first husband, a really nice, well-to-do man. At the time, I had a young son and a job dancing with a small modern dance company that barely paid the bills.

To say that my family members were appalled is an understatement. I was the one who’d managed to “marry well.” How could I ruin my life this way? And my little boy’s life? What kind of a person does something like this? Their judgements added plenty of fuel to the flames of my own guilt.

Throughout one of the lowest times of my life, however, I had an amazing blessing—my dear friend and fellow dancer Connie. As we spent hours together each day commuting to the dance company we performed with, she listened, comforted, and never judged me. To this day, I think she saved my life.

I’m incredibly grateful to her and feel such gratitude for our enduring friendship. Despite living in different cities during our post-dance company days, we’ve remained close and have supported one another through painful losses and celebrated together when we experienced terrific joy. (Our grandkids top that list!) We’ve cried together and laughed together. And as I grow older, I appreciate the blessing of our friendship more and more.

The other day, I drove to Cincinnati to see Connie. Her beautiful debut picture book, From A to Z with Energy! recently came out. We lunched at our favorite bookstore, Joseph- Beth, and had fun buying each other’s books and signing them.

Who could have predicted that we’d both end up as writers in our post-dancing days? Or that we’d still be close friends after all these years?

I am so grateful.