For 47-year-old Chris Wiley, a Huntingdon Valley teacher, his longstanding friendship with colleague Phyllis Procopio feels more like family. Kellie Patrick Gates chronicled the deep connection for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The pair works together at George Washington High School in Philadelphia.

But their link runs deeper than that.

The 75-year-old Procopio worked at Rush Middle School at the time when Wiley’s mother was home and school association president there. Procopio benefited from Wiley’s mother’s fundraising efforts, which supplied the school with video editing equipment.

The friendship widened to include much of Wiley’s family; Procopio was included in the list of attendees witnessing his master’s degree bestowal. Further, she guided him through a second master’s degree (education) from Holy Family University.

Procopio was there for Wiley after his 2002 motorcycle accident; he was at her side through her dialysis and kidney transplant.

Procopio was even a groomswoman at Wiley’s wedding.

While she will most likely need another kidney transplant in the future, Procopio knows she will have her extended family to support her through it.

“We will take it as it comes, and appreciate every day we get,” said Wiley.

Read more about friends Chris Wiley and Phyllis Procopio in The Philadelphia Inquirer.