The True Meaning Of Friendship

CBS News Correspondent Steve Hartman says he likes to think when he invites people to be on the "Everybody Has A Story" series, it's the best offer they'll have all year. But for a woman he met in Maine, his proposal ranks second at best.

Lisa Walker is a 31 year-old a hairdresser who lives with her brand new fiancee Jeff Jandreau. Both previously married, they now share a daughter and son of hers, a daughter of his, and a dicey love story.

That began the day Jeff asked Lisa to dinner and flirted with disaster.

"Yeah, he just went out on a wing and a prayer and leaped," she says.

"The last thing I wanted to do was ruin anybody's friendship," Jeff says.

The friendship at stake here was between Lisa and her best friend, Lori Davis. These two had been in each other's weddings, been godparents to each other's children, and guardians of each other's trust.

All of which brings us to the question, how did Lisa meet Jeff?

"Ah, he was dating Lori...well...he married Lori," says Lisa.

Yes, Jeff and Lori were married five years before bitterly divorcing. That's why when Jeff and Lisa started dating two years later, the town was aghast.

"Oh my God. The ex-wife, the new wife, best friends," says Lisa.

But one woman saw it differently.

"They have a lot more in common," says Lori Davis. "Their personalities are a lot alike."

"She adds, "Who else would I want in my daughter's life than my best friend."

"And that was the nicest thing that she ever could have said to me," says Lisa.

Their friendship survived what would have surely buried most. And thank God it did. Because their biggest test was yet to come.

It happened about a year ago as Lori's second husband, Greg Davis, was on the phone with police - apparently, to report a drunk driver he was following.

Operator: "State Police may I help you?"
Greg Davis: " Hey, my name is Greg Davis and I'm on route 113 up in State Falls and I've been following a car for…Oh! Oh! …He just crashed... Operator: Hello? Hello?

The drunk driver hit a truck head on. Greg was too close to stop.

"I said, 'Greg was in an accident and he got killed...and I need you,'" says Lori.

"Of course she was crying, and we just held hands on the way to the funeral home to make arrangements," says Lisa.

A true best friend makes your toughest burdens bearable and your brightest moments possible; Lisa and Lori know that better than anyone and value it like gold.

So would Lori be at Lisa's wedding?

"If she's been with me through my weddings, through the death of my husband, why can't I be there for a new beginning for her?" says Lori.