I've been trying to figure out why saying goodbye to certain people is making me cry, even when I know it's not a final goodbye. I think I hit on the answer yesterday when I said goodbye to "The Lindas", two wonderful women with the same name who come into Red Hot and Blue every Sunday and who are like second moms to me. When it was time for them to leave, I wept, and not just because I was pretty lit.

They asked me why I was crying, and the words just tumbled out of my mouth. "I'm afraid of letting you down." They both gave me that Mom Look, the one that says I love you without saying a word. Truly tipsy, I kept going. "You believe in me and I just want to make sure it's not for nothing. I don't want to disappoint you."

They gave me the Mom Answer, the one I already knew. "The only way we would be disappointed is if you didn't try." I cried a little harder, because I love them so much.

I'm so incredibly lucky to have such amazing friends. And because they're so faithful and kind, I really dread failure. That is why I get misty when I leave them. I want so badly to make them proud and wonder if I really will. Sometimes they have to remind me that they already are proud, I don't have to try extra hard to make them so. That's when I'm the most grateful.