All the way people....

How many people can you name that know you all the way?

The real you...the good, the bad and the ugly.

No hiding parts or trying to make yourself look good. You say what you want about all the things and not worry about the judgement.  You never ever worry that they would tell someone else something you said or your circumstances. You trust them explicitly with every detail of your life and you give them 1000% trust in return.  You know that if you say something that they will see you in the best light and not take offense.  There is no pretense and they love you for exactly who you are.  

Love you for exactly who you are!!

Wow pretty powerful right?

How many? 

Go ahead and in your mind do a mental count.

.

I'm trying not to include my dog, Clara, in my headcount but she certainly fits the bill and is certainly one of my closest friends. ;) But I am going to keep my head count to humans.

So I have maybe a handful.

I'm not sure after almost 50 years on earth if that is a lot or hardly any.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter how many you have as long as you have at least one.  I feel pretty lucky that I have as many as I do and they are my "all the way people." They are my life line and my confidants.  

I am blessed to call one of these people my sister Tiffany.  

We have been through so much together. She has lightened my worries, talked me off cliffs, and gave me hope when I didn't think there was anything to be hopeful about.  She made me feel capable when I felt anything but. The reminders of, "You've got this," and "You are stronger than you think," and "Nobody can do what you do and we can do hard things." She has been there every step of the way.   We cry together during the hard times.  

And we laugh...We laugh so hard during it all because we think we are hilarious.  

We are completely and utterly ridiculous and we do not care.

 She loves my children and I love hers.  

In short...there is nothing that we would not do for each other...

and she is my best friend.

So when she called me on a whim at the end of December and calmly stated, "I booked us a trip to Aruba at the beginning of February" like that is something that happens everyday, I yelled with a resounding yes and where in the h*** is Aruba? 

Yea she didn't know either...  

and yes we did.  

My sister and I went to Aruba for a week and come to find out Aruba is a magical place that lives in the middle of the ocean somewhere down by Venezuela. It is a sunny 81 degrees all the time with a gentle breeze to make sure that you are always at your optimal comfort level. 

The people are so kind...from our Air bnb host, to our taxi driver who would even take us to the store when we were just too tired, to our singing, backward sitting,  horse back riding tour guide and all the other tourists that we met on the beach or listened to singing in the ocean. 

Oh the ocean....you have never seen such an ocean. 

Tiffany and I let out a loud scream and dropped to the cement when we saw that ocean for the first time. It was the deepest crystal blue surrounded with white sand. 

Yup Aruba is pure magic...

Well except for the food.  

Our first dinner there they brought out some type of whole fish.  

The whole gross thing.  

Who wants to see a fish head with eyeballs and a tail? Who thinks this is a good idea?  We were starving and lost our appetite on arrival.  But at least we knew that we would starve to death before subjecting ourselves to that again and so we cooked our own pizza and spaghetti for the rest of the trip. We are super adaptable like that.  :)

Traveling with your sister is like traveling with yourself.  We thought that was so funny but it is so true.  Tiffany and I like to do the exact same things.  So we rode bikes all over the island (which was so funny) Loved walking all over the island (which was so funny) shopping in the same boutiques (which was so funny until it wasn't and she surprised me and bought me the most beautiful bracelet with crystals and a world reminding us both how much we love to travel and then I burst out crying because it meant so much to me and I was just so grateful and I just love my sister so much and then she burst out crying because we cry together always and then we scared the darling little shop owners because we were crying and hugging each other and then we thought that was funny so we started laughing again. Now c'mon that is funny) and  we both love to explore so we explored on horse back and ATV's and jumping off 2 ft cliffs (which entertained an entire beach of curious onlookers which was so funny), oh and plus we both love our sleep and our ice cream at night.  

See? Like traveling with yourself....

.Yup Aruba was magical.

Our time together was priceless.
And then you get home and people ask "Was it fun?"
And you think to yourself and smile because does fun even describe our week?
And you find your mind wandering to your memories...
Does fun describe us holding hands and running across the street trying not to get killed and laughing so hard we can't breathe each and every time?
Does fun describe Tiffany dancing on the snorkeling boat with our new random friends?
Does fun describe me at 49 years old having my first drink (non alcoholic of course but it still counts right?) sitting up to a bar?
Does fun include when we were skipping and laughing and waving our hands on the white sandy beaches feeling so free words can't describe and having that lady say, "You two are the definition of joy."
What about our lunches sitting right next to that blue water talking about life, relationships,  and what we want out of this one wild life... Does that count as just plain ole' fun?

So we tell people the simple answer... yea it was fun.
That is the best we can do because it was just our gift and we remember it together and we mentally pray that the things we learned and the adventures we had will change us for the better.  Because that was traveling does.  It becomes part of your rich life story and makes you feel small but understand  humanity just a tiny bit better. And God willing you take those memories and tuck them in safe for the rest of your life.  

So thank you Tiffany for a trip of a lifetime and for being my "all the way person." Life is is much better with you by my side...I love you!!!!