a girl's best friend.

a few weeks ago, i rushed upstairs during the boys' naptime to find a good book to read. i grabbed one of  off the shelf. situated on my side of the bed, with my dark chocolate m&m's and a glass of san pellegrino by my side, i was ready to get lost in one of my favorite books. the red tent.

for some reason, i had been thinking about that book all day long - even though it had been 10 years since i last read it. propped up on my pillows, i had two full hours with nothing to do but read.

as i always do when i first start a book, i opened it to the very first page. there, on the top left corner were two tiny initials inked in shaky handwriting. even though they were not penned in her usual fancy, well thought-out script, i knew just who wrote them there.

my best friend.

more than nine years ago, just weeks before she passed away, i let my mommom, my dad's mom, helen, borrow my book. i knew she would love it because i loved it. almost all of our interests were the same: novels, music, art, clothing, movies, food and magazines.

we both loved to get dressed up and eat at the beach. or to wear our floppy sunhats and ride in my convertible to mcdonalds for a cheap hot fudge sundae. we loved to stay up late talking and get up early to start our day with quiet reflection time.

before she passed, she promised she would always be with me, and that i would always have her by my side whenever i needed her. not a day goes by that i don't miss her. however, she was right. whenever i have needed her, i've always felt she was there.

that afternoon, she must have needed me. instead of reading my book, i spent two hours thinking of her. remembering our times together. smiling as i thought about her. i like to think sending me to that book was her way of sending me her love.

for a few days after that afternoon, i couldn't shake the feeling that something just wasn't right. i felt like something was missing. then it came to me: my necklace. the diamond i've worn around my neck since helen passed. the same diamond she wore around her neck for more than 20 years.

late last summer, evan yanked on the chain, and i watched my necklace slide off my neck into a bouncy house. i panicked. the thought of losing my necklace frightened me. instead of getting it fixed, i put it away, safe from little baby hands.

two weeks ago, i took my necklace in to be fixed, and i've been wearing it around my neck ever since. every time i see it flash in a mirror, i smile.

diamonds are, after all, a girl's best friend. 

having mine around my neck is kind of like having my best friend close to my heart.