You Look Really Familiar

You Look Really Familiar

My 3 week old was solidly latched and nursing contentedly as the group of mothers went around the circle and introduced themselves. This was my third child and I wondered why I found the need to show up at that La Leche League meeting. I didn’t need support. My babe was nursing well and I really felt confident in my newborn skills. I introduced myself, “Hi, I am Danielle and this is Elizabeth and she is 3 weeks old. She is my third child and I also have a 5 year old daughter and a 2 year old son.” I went on to explain that I was also a Speech Pathologist. A voice from across the room called, “Hey! I am a Speech Pathologist too!” I peered at this blonde, sitting in her chair cradling her new born, her smiling face glowing with confidence. “Of course she is,” I thought, “she looks really familiar.”

At the break I spoke with this woman named Kristin and I insisted that I knew her from somewhere. She assured me that everyone said that when they met her because she must have a, “generic” face. I thought that was funny. I imagined that she perceived herself as the human equivalent of an off-brand canned vegetable.

That was the last time I remembered seeing her until I ran into her again. And again. And again. Still, we remained solely grocery store acquaintances.

Finally it was time for me to have our fourth baby. I had just run into Kristin and I asked her to meet for a play date with the kids. That’s when I proceeded to try to convince her that she needed to cover my maternity leave. “No,” she said. I used a different tactic. “No,” she said. I tried again, this time pleading. “No,” she said. It was no use.

This woman didn’t want to work!

In retrospect, Kristin and I laugh at the irony of her unwillingness to engage in gainful employment, because for the last 5 years all she and I have done is work. And work. And work some more. She and I have built a nice, small company for ourselves and have weathered together all of the storms that come with being business owners.

Some days are rough and others are absolutely awesome but I truly couldn’t imagine doing it with anyone else. Kristin has brought things to my life that I could never have dreamed. She fills in my blind spots, highlights the less emotional side of a situation, encourages me to be brave and creates one hell of a spreadsheet.

I guess Kristin is the reason I was at that La Leche League meeting. I am so grateful for her and often tell her that us meeting was a, “God thing.” To this she just rolls her eyes. And when we are together and people say to her, “You look  really familiar.” I always think, “She might look familiar but she is anything but generic.”