Somewhere out there

There's a woman with a tattoo of a Celtic knotwork heart on her right buttcheek.

Know how I know?

Because I have one just like it on my right ankle.

She sat in the room with me while I had the work done, and I sat with her while she hummed arpeggios to take her mind off the sting of the needle.

And we were only 3 years overdue in getting them. Imagine that.

She's sensitive and sensual and earthy and has a lovely voice.

I want to be like her when I grow up.

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There's a woman who was a famous DJ on a country music station before quitting that world to stay home with her kids.

I have a picture of her from college singing into a hairbrush (or is it a curling iron?). Her fate was in the cards, and nobody knew it.

She's got spark and spunk and a mind so nimble and quick it leaves most normal humans in the dust, conversationally.

I want to be like her when I grow up.

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There's a woman who teaches second grade in the Northern Neck, a place of extraordinary beauty and connection with the water.

She's been there ever since she graduated college, and is best friends with the woman who taught me 8th grade English.

I did not grow up in the Northern Neck, so this convergence of lives is somewhat freaky.

She is spiritual and sure of her life and witty in a sweetly engaging way. Also, she's quite the computer game player!

I want to be like her when I grow up.

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There's a woman who welcomed me into her life with open arms and an energy I wish I had for the everyday.

She is smart, insightful, funny, spirited, and beyond intelligent. She flew halfway down the east coast to see me, and boy, were her arms tired.

I want to be like her when I grow up.

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There's a woman who exudes coolness like other people breathe.

A lifetime ago I sat with her in a basement apartment and smoked her cigarettes and talked shit about bands and boys and acted like geeks when nobody was looking.

She rocks Europe now with her British husband and 3 kids, and I'm sure Europe and all her inhabitants are better off for it. She is that cool.

Boy, I want to be like her when I grow up.

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There's a man who can sing his head off and is searching for the right place in this world.

He's full of spirit and is on a quest to find himself. This quest has taken him across the country and back again a time or two, and the beautifully told stories he has of those travels would fill the pack of any wandering minstrel a time or two over.

I'd to be like him when I grow up.

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There's a man who wandered the streets of New York City with me until the wee hours as we searched for the NYC experience. Man, I'll never forget it.

He likes chats and coffee. He's brilliantly intelligent but doesn't shove that in anybody's face, is humble and funny and can converse about anything, anytime, and has the facts to back up any point or argument.

I want to be like him when I grow up too.

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There are people I've just met and am getting to know who could be mentioned here for all their special points and hearts of gold.

But, for right now, I count the myself as very lucky indeed to have met people like those mentioned herein who, either long ago or rather recently, agreed to be my friend.

And if I ever DO decide to grow up, it's clear I've got a lot of work to do.

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Do YOU have anyone you want to be like when you grow up?