Anna & Josh
Some people are lucky enough to have family right around the corner.
I'm lucky enough to have Anna and Josh.
These two are my family away from family. We raise our kids together, celebrate birthdays together, grill out together, spend holidays together, and somehow manage to turn the ordinary moments of life into some of my favorite memories. Living just around the corner from them has been one of the greatest blessings in my life.
Over the years, they haven't just become my best friends, they've become part of my entire family's life. They're just as close with Gigi and Granddaddy as they are with me, and watching those friendships develop has been one of my favorite things. My parents adore them, and the feeling is mutual. When we're all together, it doesn't feel like friends getting together. It just feels like family.
If I'm having a hard day and need to vent, I know I can walk right through their front door without thinking twice. And they know they can do the same at my house. There's something incredibly comforting about having people who are always there, not because they have to be, but because they want to be.
I once read an article about how one of the biggest predictors of happiness is living close to your best friends. I don't know if the science is perfect, but I know it's been true for me. Having your people just a few minutes away changes everything.
Ironically, we first met through church when we both lived in Powhatan. We were friends, but life took us in different directions when I moved to Salisbury.
Then one day we ran into each other at Toast, a local restaurant spot, and that chance meeting changed everything. The rest is history.
Anna and I are alike in so many ways, but we're different in all the right ones. She's direct, confident, and completely unapologetic about telling it like it is. I admire that about her. It's one of the many reasons she's so incredibly good at what she does. She's the friend who will celebrate your victories but also lovingly tell you when you're wrong, and every person needs someone like that in their life.
Josh has become like a brother. to me. If I need help moving something, fixing something, carrying something, or just figuring life out, he's there. No hesitation. No questions asked. I always know I can count on him, and that kind of dependability is rare.
When leukemia entered my life, they didn't disappear or wait to be asked. They showed up and continue to do so.
Anna was the one who somehow managed to drag a 40-inch television all the way from the hospital parking garage to my room. By the time she got there she was completely out of breath, and we laughed so hard because it was exactly the kind of thing she would do. She wasn't going to let something as silly as a giant TV stop her from making my hospital room feel a little more like home.
That's who they are. They don't just say they love you. They show you. And my life is infinitely richer because Anna and Josh live just around the corner.
