Talk to me for more than ten minutes in person and you'll probably hear me lament how much I miss my friends up north. Probably not what anyone really wants to hear, but when the friends you've known for so long are as wonderful as mine, it makes sense. The following story is one of meaningful friendship and the universe throwing me a bone.

So, someone I know where I live now took to social media talking about a bout of anxiety. I thought I would share what I do for anxiety and for not being able to sleep: lavender tea. I discovered it years ago, back up north in a little cafe I love in Nyack, New York. I used to buy it loose from there after that. Now anytime I'm back home I grab some to take back with me. Anyway, I went to buy a box of lavender tea bags to share since I didn't have access to the loose stuff anywhere near my current residence and I only had maybe one serving left from my last trip. Driving home, I fell into a bit of a funk thinking about how I had to use these tea bags instead of varying the strength with the loose tea I love from my little Art Cafe. I know ... first world problems, right? Definitely. Still, the real issue was far deeper than that. I didn't just miss the comfort of easy access to that particular tea, but the comfort of knowing my friends were not far if we needed each other.

Anyway, I headed home from the supermarket, stopped by the mailboxes, and I had a package! One of my dearest friends had sent me something. I tore open the envelope (decorated with colorful markers!) and the smell of lavender hit my nose. I nearly cried. Again, it wasn't just the comfort of knowing the next bunch of times I wake in the night and can't sleep, I have that tea handy to get me back to sleep ... it was the comfort of being reminded that those friends who know me so well are never as far away as the miles between us.