Now was the chance to catch up—without an eye on the clock.

It was a dirty job, but somebody had to do it: cruise on a Carnival Fun Ship for five days and four nights. For work.

Can you “feel my pain”?

So a week before Thanksgiving, I embarked on the 2007 Girl’s Get-A-Way Cruise (www.premierchristiancruises.com) and set sail with 1,500 other Christian women to the port of Cozumel, Mexico. Riding in a shuttle to the dock, I chatted excitedly with a few other “desperate housewives,” especially two eager moms hankering for a taste of freedom from diapering and feeding little ones, and a mother/teen daughter duo who wanted to shop till they dropped at the port. They all seemed ready to get away from it all.

To be honest, I was ready to get away from it all, too. I felt physically and emotionally exhausted from 2007’s highs (my daughter’s wedding) and lows (a sister-in-law’s serious illness). Ongoing work transitions and pressures had taken their toll, as had church commitments and concerns for friends tackling tough times and health issues.

Was I ever ready for this getaway! And to top it off, a dear friend I’ve known since college agreed to join me on the cruise, truly making it a “girlfriend getaway.”

Marilyn and I knew each other before either of us was married, when we were 40 pounds lighter! Through the years, we saw our waistlines and families expand—to include husbands and children. What a rare and wonderful blessing, girlfriends and their families who became family friends. Together, my husband, Rich, and I, with Marilyn and her husband, Dave, our two daughters, and their two sons, laughed and celebrated and hiked and biked together, all of us enjoying the same types of outdoorsy activities and folksy music.

Then, several years ago, Marilyn and her family moved far away. And although in the intervening years we visited some and kept in sporadic touch through e-mail and telephone, the interaction just wasn’t the same.

Now we had the chance to catch up leisurely, without competing demands or an eye on the clock. And catch up we did—as we pondered when and where to eat (again), ogled the Grand Buffet’s dessert presentation, oohed and aahed over the breathtaking sea life we spotted from a glass-bottom boat, munched on tacos pescadores in a classy Mexican restaurant, and shared laughs with our dinner mates, Deb and Julie from Minnesota (Julie, a seasoned cruiser, filled us in on what to expect when the wait staff started a conga line in the dining room). Between the giggles over the fact I broke a Christmas ornament right next to a sign in a Mexican gift shop that warned customers to look, not touch, the sheepish grins over the fact we craved—and took—a lot of naps, and the chagrin of discovering we both snored (bummer!), Marilyn and I relished this gift of time to dig deeper than we could in any casual phone conversation or e-mail. We talked openly about Marilyn’s grief over the loss of a loved one, our challenges with our adult children, the sandwich-generation issues with which we both grapple.

I was also grateful for the opportunity to connect with many of the speakers and authors TCW has featured through the years, such as Spa Girls Melissa Calvert and Lisa Seale (www.thespagirls.com), Dr. Katie Brazelton, former cover girl Chonda Pierce, and even TCW columnists Carolyn Castleberry (Ask Our Experts) and Lisa Harper (Great Question).

It was a chance for me to drop my editor’s mask and greet and hug some of the many women who’ve meant so much to TCW’s ministry. I felt like a “civilian” as I drew inspiration from Chonda, Lisa, and Katie, worshiped during Point of Grace’s performance, and chuckled at the Spa Girls’ presentation. And who knew that Lisa Harper owns pet goats—or that Chonda golfs? Now I do!

But in the end, this cruise became less about getting away, and more about moving closer. Closer to a dear friend whose day-to-day presence in my life I miss.

I hope some day you’ll have the same kind of opportunity to renew and refresh a significant friendship in your life.

Blessings,