We spent four glorious days in Walla Walla this past weekend, our third trip to the town as a couple. We lay our heads to rest at the bucolic Inn at Woodhaven Farm, filled our bellies with gourmand delights at Creektown Café and swilled enough Syrah to satiate a small village. Temperatures were in the upper 70s, skies were blue and we didn’t have a care in the world. Two city slickers could hardly ask for anything more.

The icing on the cake was visiting with our friends Byron and Julie and their young son, Nate. Byron and Julie have known my husband for the better part of two decades. They even rented an apartment together long ago and can recount the years my better half dined exclusively on noodles and canned baked beans. While I have only known them for as long as I’ve known my [now] husband, nearly four years, I feel like we’ve been friends for much longer.

There is a comfortable camaraderie between us and I’m certain, if we lived nearer to one another, that we’d spend many an evening noshing, chatting and “watching the wheat grow” (as Julie puts it). They feel as close as family, which is why we asked them to be the godparents of our adopted child. And our child’s guardians, should we both die at the same time, unexpectedly.

Happily, they agreed. Young Nate added the caveat that he hoped we wouldn’t die. We’re with you on that one little buddy! It is a strange feeling indeed to contemplate your own demise, much less ask two friends to commit to caring for your yet-to-be-adopted child for the remainder of his life.

Julie and Byron even one-upped the offer. They said that [while we’re living, of course], we can drop off the kiddo at their place for one week every year and head off to go wine tasting or jet away on any adults-only adventure of our choosing. That’s pretty remarkable. Particularly since none of us have met said kid and have no idea how manageable or unmanageable this offer might be in reality.

While many aspects of the adoption paper chase are daunting to say the least, few were as sobering as deciding who we should ask to be our child’s guardian. That said, and choice made, there is nothing as soul-satisfying as knowing you’ve got good friends who’ve got your back. Life is full of hurdles and friendships that have stood the test of time are one of the grandest blessings living on earth has to offer.

“We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend” — Robert Lewis Stevenson