Sorry we've been so quiet this week. Di had her surgery yesterday and we were all on pins and needles as we waited. I've never had a group of friends that I felt so in tune with -- and I know that Di's surgery really put us all "down" as we went through it with her emotionally. I know we all wished we could take on the pain too. Emotionally, we did just that and it's taken a toll on creativity. (Small price to pay!)

We are all feeling relieved that the surgery is over, that her doctor thinks she got everything, and that chemo will take care of anything that THINKS it's going to grow again. Me, being the vain one, I'm hoping that she got a taut tummy out of all this, Connection/Fellowship/walking with one another through valleys and on mountaintops, it's why God puts us here, I suppose. I mean, yes, we've seen the bestseller lists together, and that's a good thing. But it's knowing your friends are there if you get fired, if you get cancer, if you have pain of any sort, that makes the difference in life.

Real friendships come from NOT hitting the bestsellers' list. From getting one more rejection more than you can handle. From one more Google alert that says, "You SUCK as a writer!" So if you think our friendship is based on success, I'm here to tell you, it's based on years and years and years of testing and failure.

Labels: fellowship, friendship, novelists, testing, valleys, writing