Summer is also friends who have husbands gone often like I do. Friends whose kiddos are bouncing off the walls right about 4:45 p.m. like mine. Friends who call up in a frazzled mess asking if I have planned dinner yet and are happy when I say "no", sharing in their exasperation. Friends who bring their kids over with or without shoes on. Friends who like pizza delivered, inexpensive wine and bagged salad with champagne dressing. Friends who watch my kids like my boys were theirs, and I watch theirs like they were mine. Friends who don't care if the dishes are done or my playroom is picked up. Friends who listen who each other about out marital issues with an open heart, give solid advice, shed a few tears with us and then send us back into it all with a "you married him sister, get back in there and make it work". Friends who pray for us with everything they have in them. Friends who are more than friends...they are family.