My life has been blessed with a number of wonderful friendships.  But God sent a special friend into my life at a time when I needed a good friend the most.  Back in 1986 our family moved to Port Orchard, WA (aka Cedar Cove) and as it happened, my next door neighbor was Linda Lael Miller.  Coincidentally, Linda had also published around the same time as I did and being able to commiserate about our fledgling careers and the craziness of raising children and keeping a home was heaven sent. 

As Linda and I walked around the high school track every afternoon we dreamed together, set goals, planned our careers and encouraged and supported one another.  We even opened a shared office out of the home—unheard of among our author friends!  And then Linda got wanderlust and moved.  She joked and said the neighborhood was going down hill.  She now lives in Spokane and while we don’t see each other more than a couple of times a year, we still dream and plot and plan.  I am blessed to call her my friend, knowing that it’s a rare and special gift to have friendships that bridge both distance and time.