An Eye Opening Email:

I have this friend, who is different from any other friend I've ever had or likely will have.  She's refined, and clever and funny.  She's a retired teacher, an activist for Cystic Fibrosis sufferers, she donates to charity, she is a writer, a public speaker, a wife and mother.  She's just cool, and thoughtful and for some strange reason, she likes ME!  Can you believe it!?!  Having her as a friend is the equivalent of dating someone out of your league! *laughs*

The reason I bring this up, is because my friend Beth, who had been out of town for a bit, wrote to me via email yesterday to tell me that she was "catching up" with me via Facebook, and what she could gather was that I bought a new gun, and was on the cusp of getting a new tattoo!

I laughed at the thought that in the time she was "out of touch", those two things were the highlights of my later winter/early spring.  Here is my religious, educated, sophisticated wonderful friend, and then there's me, gun toting, tattooed hooligan!  What on earth does she see in me?  I wondered upon reading her email..."Does she have any other friends getting tattoos and buying handguns?"  I'm guessing she doesn't!

What's funny to me is, I never really thought stereo-typically about myself.  On paper, to have my current life events scrawled out like that, I was like...WHOA, that's me!  And I can't help but to laugh, because I couldn't be LESS like the stereotypical tattooed, gun loving hooligan that on paper perhaps I may be perceived as.  Lets face it, many people see a person with tattoos and they automatically jump to the conclusion that you're a gang member, a criminal, uneducated, trashy...you get the drift...

While tattoos are becoming common place in today's society, in my line of work, they are still pretty taboo.  I work in an environment where everyone wears suits and ties, and still polishes their shoes with shoe polish.  I work with highly educated and prestigious Judges who I couldn't be more different from.  Yet my day job, allows me to enjoy all the "alternative things" I do so love...like ink, guns, writing crime novels, dying my hair a wide array of wild colors.  I cannot deny, I have NEVER been someone who tried to fit myself into any category I was expected to conform to.

This couldn't be any more clearer than when talking to a particular teenager who I won't mention officially who told me that he had a shirt that he had bought and that kids were making fun of because it was like "a girls shirt"....so he immediately decided to cut the shirt up / alter it.  I was like, "Why, it's a nice shirt?"  Why did he feel like he had to conform to what the masses expected of him in order to fit in?

Why can't he see the beauty in this?  Who would you want to be friends with in this picture, the suits?  Or the guy standing on his head?  I'd take the headstand guy any day and twice on Sunday!  "Individuals" are fun to be with, always keep you on your toes and amused!  I think it's a fantastic quality!  An attractive one!  That's one of the things I LOVE about Jerimy, he's truly UNLIKE anyone else I've ever known...

In high school, I wore what I wanted, not what was "in style" per se.  #1) my folks couldn't afford what was "in style" and #2) my idea of style was't the gawd awful colorful sweaters from County Seat (remember that store), I never had Nike's, or Adidas or the latest cutting edge "walkmans", or "cd player"....I was rocking the "TAPE PLAYER" long after the rest of the world was going Compact Disk!  And that was ok, because I didn't care about what everyone else did....my "tapes" sounded kickass to me!  And I was perfectly happy wearing Jeans, black boots and a Black T-shirt.  That's what I WANTED to wear anyway.

So what am I rambling on about you ask...well, I guess it's about realizing that there ARE some people out there who continue to take people for who they are.  Beth is "in my eyes" someone who has every reason NOT to associate with the likes of me.  She's meticulous at grammar and punctuation, I'm haphazard in my writing and use (...) more than anyone has a right to!  She finds it easy to write NON-fiction, and enjoys "rules" and "Structure" and truth...I cannot function under the confines of rules and expectations of a "right" and "wrong" way to do things and what is Fiction...but a complete fabrication of the truth?!  Her skin is lovely and bare of any dyes or piercings...I have tattoos and I think they are as much a part of me as any part I was born with.  She is charitable, and kind, and giving, and is an example for anyone to look up to...I buy guns and sometimes struggle with wanting to start smoking again every time summer roles around!  *laughs*

I guess, it was eye opening to have myself "played back" to myself, to see myself through the eyes of someone else, someone who I couldn't be more honored to have as a friend.  And you know what, THANK GOD for people like her.  Someone who doesn't see tattoos, motorcycles, a wee bit of a fowl mouth as "dealbreakers" to knowing someone and liking them.

I will say this though, I have always believed that when it comes to religion, I have come across a lot of "Christians" and religious types that look down their noses at the "sinners" of the world.  I have found that for some, "judgementalness" is synonymous with religious...and for that reason, I ALSO never wanted to be "that kind of religious"...I made my own rules and had my own thoughts about spirituality and God.  Again, rules seem to be something I struggle with. Anyway, I guess in Beth, I've found someone who's faith in God isn't tainted with judgment, she's a good example all the way around.  Plus she feeds me wine and cheesecake when I visit, so if that's not a wonderful testament to her type of "goodness" I don't know what is!

I mean, C'mon, SERIOUSLY, HOW ON EARTH COULD THESE TWO BE FRIENDS?

And yet she loves me and is my friend.

Thank God for that!

Luv,

~HeatherLynn~

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON BETH HUFFMAN...
and her wonderful books:

Visit her at her BLOG:  Beth's Blog

Order her books on Amazon:  Amazon Listing

Or Email her @   bethhm@roadrunner.com

Her books are outstanding, inspirational, and touch your heart in ways only TRUE LIFE stories can.
If you are not a fan of my books, you very well may LOVE Beth's!
Go check them out on amazon, great descriptions of the books' content and a sneak peak as well!