Illustration Friday: Neighbor

I am super excited for this week's Illustration Friday topic: Neighbor. For me the word Neighbor means more than just someone that lives next door that you wave to every once in a while, for me it is synonymous with the word Friend.

Back in the late 90s my hubby and I lived in a funky duplex. Not too long after we moved in, the unit next door became available. I knew of some friends of friends that were looking so I gave them a call. They came and looked at the place and took it on the spot. I was excited because I had only hung out with these two a handful of times and thought they were great, and looked forward to getting to know them better. Nothing could have prepared me for the incredible friendship that would develop as we lived side by side, separated only by a very thin, poorly insulated wall.

We met for dinners and lunches in the shared back yard, made up nicknames for some of our less friendly street-mates, survived an earthquake, spent holidays together making delicious meals, and talked, and talked and talked. You would think separated only by such a thin wall that all of this talking happened in person, and some of it did. But mostly we talked on the phone. We both had to invest in headsets to relieve the phone-elbow and sore ears that became a symptom of our dedication to talking. And this habit continues today, now that we live in different neighborhoods. In one afternoon I will exhaust the battery on both my cordless phones, and my cell phone during our marathon conversations. One time we figured out how much time we spend on the phone together and the results were shocking. In an average year we spend about 35 DAYS talking on the phone. There is so much I could say about my Neighbor that I will just have to save for other posts. Most importantly I cherish our epic chats and I wouldn't spend those hours any other way. Love you Neighbor!