Different Worlds

On Monday I officially met my best friend Jennifer. I actually met her nine years ago in a Hillary Clinton forum. We became fast friends.

We faced many trials and tribulations together, even though we lived in different Cities. I live in Pittsburgh, PA and she lives in Rochester, NY.

I am a poor, uneducated woman from the Hood and she is a middle-class college professor.

In 2008 someone cut my gas line but no one could tell me who did it or why.
In January of 2009 my water was cut off. No one could tell me why. We lived an entire Winter without water or natural gas.

That Summer, faced with another cold winter, I called Child Protective Services on myself.

They found out why I had no gas lines and water. The houses that held my pipes were going to be torn down. The cost to put pipes in my house would reach $100,000. I couldn't afford that so I had to move.

On September 24, 2009 my teenage daughter and I would be going to a homeless shelter. I was terrified and I told Jen. We were terrified together.

The homeless shelter turned out to be a beautiful four bedroom apartment. Jen spent a sleepless night worried about me and I spent a sleepless night trying to adjust to a new place.

She decided she was going to get her PhD and began applying to schools. She got turned down by her first choice, which devastated her. I was heartbroken for my friend but didn't want her to give up. She applied to another school and got in. Together, we celebrated.

Together, we supported each other through Sarcoidosis and the loss of my spleen, loss of employment due to illness, a missing child, new employment. Jen did my resume on Messenger. My Sarcoidosis moved into Stage 4 and I had to quit my job. Jen had a seizure and then a brain tumor, which needed surgery. We supported each other through each struggle.

We also celebrated the birth of grandchildren, new jobs, and the graduation from high school of my youngest and her oldest child.

What makes us close is that we call each other out on our bull. We do not hold our tongue when the other is making a mistake or in trouble.

I've learned about middle class people and she learned about poor people.

Yes, we come from different worlds but more people should leave their comfort zone and talk to people who are different.