Cheers to today

Smile, everybody, and say, "broomhockey!"

Yes, my ladies are officially here, having arrived starting at 8:20 last night to what we formerly called "The St.Pierre Estate."

Now that I'm married and my house consists full of Fords, I think we need to rethink the name of what what my friends and I have dubbed their country B&B.

Jon and I tried to post a road sign that said "Ford Tough Blvd," but that would only confuse the delivery guys.

I do try to make my home as "hotel-like" as possible. I want my friends to keep coming back.

The most exciting thing about this weekend is that we are all together, carrying on a tradition my father started when he was President of the Recreation Department almost thirty years ago.

Winter Carnival has changed since then but has succeeded in many shapes and forms.

Now my friends and I are carrying the torch.

These college friends: Colette, Laurette, Daisy, and Lauren (Maggie couldn't make it due to car trouble) are the same ones who supported me through college. Who gasped when they found out I was pregnant only to come back running with presents.

You never know who your friends for life will be until it is no longer "convenient" to see them, and these are my girls for life.

They cried when I was diagnosed with cancer and suffered through me dragging them shopping on Fordham Rd. and Canal St. to cope.

They ran to my bedside when the Doctors told my family that I would not survive my respiratory failure and coma in Feb. 2007 and stayed while I recouporated.

Their presence, jokes, and laughter were better than any medicine modern science could provide.

When I relocated to Boston for my trial study and second transplant, they all hoped in the car and came rushing to Natick when my sister and brother in law, along with Boston Scientific, Threw a fundraiser for my healthcare costs in 2008.

They were here last year for winter carnival despite having to take care of me when I came down with pneumonia.

Now they're here, again, with their partners and children. We're all grown up! We all grew up together.

I'm so lucky to have people to love and relate to and who will still keep coming back even after I force them out on ice in boots to do a silly New England sport that makes them look foolish while I take pictures and laugh hysterically on the sidelines.

Cheers to today.