An Ode to Friendships
In just over 36 hours I will be seeing one of my best friends in the whole world. Someone I haven't seen in about a year and a half. She is one of those friends who when you meet them you immediately know you're going to be friends forever and I get to see her on Wednesday! I don't know if everyone has experienced anything quite like the beginning of our friendship. If friends can have a cute-meet/meet cute... we had one. One of our first conversations went something like this:
Friend: "So when's your birthday?"
Me: "January 26th, what about you?"
Friend: "Shut up, mine is June 26th!"
---more conversation---
Friend: "Yeah, I know a lot of Dans it's weird. Even my dad's name is Dan!"
Me: "NO. My dad's name is Dan. What's your mom's name?"
Friend: "Deb. What about yours?"
Me: "Anne. That would have been too weird"
Friend: "Yeah, especially if you had said she was a nurse too."
Me: "She is a nurse. Is your mom a nurse?!"
Friend: "Yes!! What?! And my sister is an occupational therapist.
Me: "My aunt is an occupational therapist!"
Friend: "Get out! You're from Texas right? My sister just moved to Brownsville, TX for work. Any chance she might run into her there?"
Me: "Wait. Your sister just moved to Brownsville, TX? THAT'S WHERE I GREW UP!"
Friend: "Are you serious?!"
And so on and so forth until we came to the conclusion that we were somehow related or, even more logically, separated at birth. It was an instant friendship. We've only known each other for about 3 years now, but it feels like a lifetime (in a good way).
Since I get to see this amazing friend in just a few short days, I've been feeling very nostalgic about that friendship and so many others that I have been fortunate enough to have. You see, as friendships go, I have been blessed with some pretty fantastic ones.
I have these best friends from college, two of whom I've been friends with since high school. We did everything together. I lived with at least one of them the majority of college and at one point, all 4 of them (basically). I know a lot of people might say they had the perfect living situation in college (ok I don't actually know that) but when I say that I did, I mean it. On top of that, I was friends with each of them individually and loved them all for very different reasons. It wasn't one of those group dynamics that breaks down if someone isn't there. We were all friends apart and together and I really do think it is something rare. Of course, I'm sure it wasn't without its specific troubles, but they were so few and so outweighed by the sheer amount of fun that we had together that I don't think I can pin point one bad thing to tell you now, nor would I want to even if I could. I have an amazing family and those years living together in college, those four forever became part of it.
And then I went to graduate school and moved in with two people I didn't know and what's worse, had no idea if I had anything in common with. For the first few weeks I kept to myself and minded my own business until one day something changed. Its hard to remember now exaclty what it was. Maybe it was something as simple as watching TV together. Or maybe it was when we picked my little tuxedo wearing cat up off the streets and named him together as we sat on our front porch (his name was never going to be Enobarbas, by the way). Or maybe it was our mutual love for his chicken nugget shaped, bug-eyed pug puppy. Whatever it was, it gained me a friendship that would become the steadying force in one of the absolute hardest times in my life. Plus, I'm still holding out for the opportunity to kidnap that dog.
And then there's that one friend. The one that drives you crazy but that you can't help but love anyway. The one that has seen you at your absolute worst and yet still sees you as your very best. The one friend that you don't talk to in ages and then it's exactly the same when you do and that's how it will always be. But for me, you see, I've had that several times. Not just in these relationships detailed here, but in others as well. All of these friends are now spread across the country. Some in Texas, some in New York, some in California and many others in many different places. Most of them are incredibly far away and yet on a night like tonight, when I recall the past, a phone call doesn't seem too terribly far. And with all of this doubt and uncertainty boiling up in my life I know I've got to be doing something right.
In other words: Get ready California beacuse Sasha and Rosemary Lavenderbutter* are about to be together again!
*Please do not steal our alter-ego names. We will hunt you down and kick you.
Friend: "So when's your birthday?"
Me: "January 26th, what about you?"
Friend: "Shut up, mine is June 26th!"
---more conversation---
Friend: "Yeah, I know a lot of Dans it's weird. Even my dad's name is Dan!"
Me: "NO. My dad's name is Dan. What's your mom's name?"
Friend: "Deb. What about yours?"
Me: "Anne. That would have been too weird"
Friend: "Yeah, especially if you had said she was a nurse too."
Me: "She is a nurse. Is your mom a nurse?!"
Friend: "Yes!! What?! And my sister is an occupational therapist.
Me: "My aunt is an occupational therapist!"
Friend: "Get out! You're from Texas right? My sister just moved to Brownsville, TX for work. Any chance she might run into her there?"
Me: "Wait. Your sister just moved to Brownsville, TX? THAT'S WHERE I GREW UP!"
Friend: "Are you serious?!"
And so on and so forth until we came to the conclusion that we were somehow related or, even more logically, separated at birth. It was an instant friendship. We've only known each other for about 3 years now, but it feels like a lifetime (in a good way).
Since I get to see this amazing friend in just a few short days, I've been feeling very nostalgic about that friendship and so many others that I have been fortunate enough to have. You see, as friendships go, I have been blessed with some pretty fantastic ones.
I have these best friends from college, two of whom I've been friends with since high school. We did everything together. I lived with at least one of them the majority of college and at one point, all 4 of them (basically). I know a lot of people might say they had the perfect living situation in college (ok I don't actually know that) but when I say that I did, I mean it. On top of that, I was friends with each of them individually and loved them all for very different reasons. It wasn't one of those group dynamics that breaks down if someone isn't there. We were all friends apart and together and I really do think it is something rare. Of course, I'm sure it wasn't without its specific troubles, but they were so few and so outweighed by the sheer amount of fun that we had together that I don't think I can pin point one bad thing to tell you now, nor would I want to even if I could. I have an amazing family and those years living together in college, those four forever became part of it.
And then I went to graduate school and moved in with two people I didn't know and what's worse, had no idea if I had anything in common with. For the first few weeks I kept to myself and minded my own business until one day something changed. Its hard to remember now exaclty what it was. Maybe it was something as simple as watching TV together. Or maybe it was when we picked my little tuxedo wearing cat up off the streets and named him together as we sat on our front porch (his name was never going to be Enobarbas, by the way). Or maybe it was our mutual love for his chicken nugget shaped, bug-eyed pug puppy. Whatever it was, it gained me a friendship that would become the steadying force in one of the absolute hardest times in my life. Plus, I'm still holding out for the opportunity to kidnap that dog.
And then there's that one friend. The one that drives you crazy but that you can't help but love anyway. The one that has seen you at your absolute worst and yet still sees you as your very best. The one friend that you don't talk to in ages and then it's exactly the same when you do and that's how it will always be. But for me, you see, I've had that several times. Not just in these relationships detailed here, but in others as well. All of these friends are now spread across the country. Some in Texas, some in New York, some in California and many others in many different places. Most of them are incredibly far away and yet on a night like tonight, when I recall the past, a phone call doesn't seem too terribly far. And with all of this doubt and uncertainty boiling up in my life I know I've got to be doing something right.
In other words: Get ready California beacuse Sasha and Rosemary Lavenderbutter* are about to be together again!
*Please do not steal our alter-ego names. We will hunt you down and kick you.
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