Funeral? Will travel!

I got a phone call the other day from my best friend. She called three times that day before we actually got connected, so by the time we were connecting I was worried that something was wrong. Here is part of the phone call, as I remember it:

Me: 'Hey - what's going on? You've called like four times today'
Her: 'I know. I've got to talk to you.'
Me: 'Is everything ok?'
Her: 'Well, I've got some good news and some bad news.'
Me: 'Ok...'
Her: 'My grandpa died. So I'm flying home for the funeral this weekend.'
Me: 'Oh wow (insert nickname). I am sorry. Are you ok?'
Her: 'Yeah, I think so. But the good news is that if you can get there you can see me!' - followed by her laughter, which was followed by my laughter

Now this may seem a little twisted - but it is has been two years since I've seen her. This is the woman who has known me since I was eight and who I've seen every year with the exception of one when she had to go and take herself to frog-land.

We both had our second child last year - she a girl and me a boy only a day apart from each other.. I have never met her little one and she's never met mine.

I leave tomorrow for the trip to see her. I do not think I'll be able to sleep. I start thinking about it and get teary. Of course she is going to read this and roll her eyes. Then she'll call me and laugh about it with me. We'll talk about how different we are.

But I know that the minute we get to hug she's going to cry too. And with this reunion comes not only my normal anxiety over getting packed and making sure everything is ready to go - but excitement that would rival any child's Christmas morning emotion.

Of course every once and a while I have to remind myself that this is a hard weekend for her - and sometimes I have to remind her.