My Best Friend
I have heard it said that some people go through their whole lives and never find that one special person with whom they can share a lifelong friendship. I have been blessed with many friends along the road of my life's journey. Some who have drifted in and made a sweet mark on my heart before drifting back out again. Some have stomped in, set up camp, and stayed for life!
I met my very first best friend on the first day of kindergarten. I was clinging to my mother's hand, just as she was, while they stood together talking. The next thing I knew, this sweet little girl with big brown eyes was holding my hand and we began talking. We became fast friends and were inseparable. We spent kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and third grade together - even riding the same school bus. In fourth grade, my parents wanted my brother and I to try a nearby private school so my friend and I split tearfully for a year. We, of course, stayed close with phone calls and sleepovers, and were overjoyed when my parents decided to bring us back to public school the following year. Our joy quickly turned to heartbreak when we found out that she and her family were moving to Colorado! Our parents graciously allowed two giggling little girls to call each other often and I still have letters that she wrote to me. They are stained with tears - hers or mine, I don't remember. It was a horrible year. We were once again thrilled when they moved back and we spent sixth and seventh grades together. When she and her family moved again, it was to a neighboring town and, even though she went to a different school than I did, we talked every single day after school. We decided together that we would apply to a state school for Math, Science, and the Arts, thinking how cool it would be for us to go away together for our junior and senior years of high school. Only two students were chosen from each parish and we were certain that we would be the two. In our final assessments, her point total was only four points higher than mine. Unfortunately, a boy from our parish scored higher than both of us so he and my friend were chosen to go. While there, she met her future husband and they married soon after graduating from high school and started college together. She and her husband now live in another state and have four children. I haven't seen her in seven years, and we don't call or write nearly as often as we should, but I still consider Kathy one of my dearest friends.
My other best friend came into my life so early that I actually can't remember when we first met. Our lives were so entertwined between school and church and our grandmothers - who were good friends - that it seems like we were always together. I have a lot of fun, happy memories that I share with her. We were both in the parish gifted progam beginning in the sixth grade - which meant that we were bused to a junior high school twice a week for accelerated classes. Sharing that made us even closer and we loved spending time with each other. In the seventh grade, a new boy moved to our school and we hated him on sight. He was in our gifted classes with us and, man! did he stink! Brown-nosing the teacher, knowing every single answer, able to do everything, we couldn't stand him. I can recall hour-long telephone conversations devoted to our mutual dislike for this new hotshot boy. He, of course, couldn't care less! One of my absolute favorite memories with her is the day she showed up at my house in the car her grandmother had just bought her and we somehow convinced my parents that my going with her was a good idea. The car had a stick shift and she had no idea how to drive it. We spent a good two hours on back country roads with her grinding her way through the gears and trying to learn how to drive the car. She did eventually. In fact, she always excelled at everything she ever set her mind to. I've always loved her for that. Later in high school, we met other friends and hung out together less, but we were always there for each other. She started dating a guy and they fell in love. He was the guy we hated in junior high! I started dating, too, and she and I had even less time for each other. We went to different colleges, but we still stayed in touch. We both got married - to the guys we fell in love with in high school - both suffered with infertility, both ended up with wonderful children, both have wonderful lives. We drifted apart for several years, but recently caught back up with each again and now have quite an active friendship - albeit online. It's just been so wonderful to have her back in my life! Carla will always be a cherished friend.
I've had lots of friends. I've truly been blessed with a multitude of wonderful girls and women who have been led into my life by God at just the time I needed them most. Each will always have a special place in my heart. Some of them are childhood friends with whom I still "keep up with." Some are more recent friends from work or church. My memories of some of them are a bit fuzzy from years gone by. Some are as crystal clear as teardrops.
God has blessed me with one true, lifelong best friend. This friend and I first saw each other in junior high. We officially met much later. We will be together for the rest of our lives. God knew exactly what I needed in my life and He created this friend to fit perfectly with me. We laugh together. We cry together. We have shared the most treasured and precious moments of our lives together. This friend has carried me through so many rough times in my life that I can't count them. Have we ever argued? Absolutely. But the greatest growth comes from adversity. We have melded our lives together in a bond that will never be broken. The best friend, this precious, wonderful, God-given friend is my husband Michael. I've had girlfriends come and girlfriends go, but Michael is the one constant in my life. He is my rock, my sounding board, my refuge, my hero, my inspiration, my knight in shining armor, my shoulder to cry on, my hand to hold, my arms to rest in...
My best friend.
I met my very first best friend on the first day of kindergarten. I was clinging to my mother's hand, just as she was, while they stood together talking. The next thing I knew, this sweet little girl with big brown eyes was holding my hand and we began talking. We became fast friends and were inseparable. We spent kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and third grade together - even riding the same school bus. In fourth grade, my parents wanted my brother and I to try a nearby private school so my friend and I split tearfully for a year. We, of course, stayed close with phone calls and sleepovers, and were overjoyed when my parents decided to bring us back to public school the following year. Our joy quickly turned to heartbreak when we found out that she and her family were moving to Colorado! Our parents graciously allowed two giggling little girls to call each other often and I still have letters that she wrote to me. They are stained with tears - hers or mine, I don't remember. It was a horrible year. We were once again thrilled when they moved back and we spent sixth and seventh grades together. When she and her family moved again, it was to a neighboring town and, even though she went to a different school than I did, we talked every single day after school. We decided together that we would apply to a state school for Math, Science, and the Arts, thinking how cool it would be for us to go away together for our junior and senior years of high school. Only two students were chosen from each parish and we were certain that we would be the two. In our final assessments, her point total was only four points higher than mine. Unfortunately, a boy from our parish scored higher than both of us so he and my friend were chosen to go. While there, she met her future husband and they married soon after graduating from high school and started college together. She and her husband now live in another state and have four children. I haven't seen her in seven years, and we don't call or write nearly as often as we should, but I still consider Kathy one of my dearest friends.
My other best friend came into my life so early that I actually can't remember when we first met. Our lives were so entertwined between school and church and our grandmothers - who were good friends - that it seems like we were always together. I have a lot of fun, happy memories that I share with her. We were both in the parish gifted progam beginning in the sixth grade - which meant that we were bused to a junior high school twice a week for accelerated classes. Sharing that made us even closer and we loved spending time with each other. In the seventh grade, a new boy moved to our school and we hated him on sight. He was in our gifted classes with us and, man! did he stink! Brown-nosing the teacher, knowing every single answer, able to do everything, we couldn't stand him. I can recall hour-long telephone conversations devoted to our mutual dislike for this new hotshot boy. He, of course, couldn't care less! One of my absolute favorite memories with her is the day she showed up at my house in the car her grandmother had just bought her and we somehow convinced my parents that my going with her was a good idea. The car had a stick shift and she had no idea how to drive it. We spent a good two hours on back country roads with her grinding her way through the gears and trying to learn how to drive the car. She did eventually. In fact, she always excelled at everything she ever set her mind to. I've always loved her for that. Later in high school, we met other friends and hung out together less, but we were always there for each other. She started dating a guy and they fell in love. He was the guy we hated in junior high! I started dating, too, and she and I had even less time for each other. We went to different colleges, but we still stayed in touch. We both got married - to the guys we fell in love with in high school - both suffered with infertility, both ended up with wonderful children, both have wonderful lives. We drifted apart for several years, but recently caught back up with each again and now have quite an active friendship - albeit online. It's just been so wonderful to have her back in my life! Carla will always be a cherished friend.
I've had lots of friends. I've truly been blessed with a multitude of wonderful girls and women who have been led into my life by God at just the time I needed them most. Each will always have a special place in my heart. Some of them are childhood friends with whom I still "keep up with." Some are more recent friends from work or church. My memories of some of them are a bit fuzzy from years gone by. Some are as crystal clear as teardrops.
God has blessed me with one true, lifelong best friend. This friend and I first saw each other in junior high. We officially met much later. We will be together for the rest of our lives. God knew exactly what I needed in my life and He created this friend to fit perfectly with me. We laugh together. We cry together. We have shared the most treasured and precious moments of our lives together. This friend has carried me through so many rough times in my life that I can't count them. Have we ever argued? Absolutely. But the greatest growth comes from adversity. We have melded our lives together in a bond that will never be broken. The best friend, this precious, wonderful, God-given friend is my husband Michael. I've had girlfriends come and girlfriends go, but Michael is the one constant in my life. He is my rock, my sounding board, my refuge, my hero, my inspiration, my knight in shining armor, my shoulder to cry on, my hand to hold, my arms to rest in...
My best friend.
posted by Felicia at 2:27 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home