  Okay, my best girlfriend called me last night and it made me think about the different best friends I've had in different times of my life. Preschool and beginning of elementary school- Amanda. We went to ballet class and preschool together. The funniest story I remember about being with her (and there were quite a few! ) was when we dressed up for Halloween and went to her school for a party. I don't have any idea what I was dressed up as, but Amanda was dressed up as a cheerleader.
She was always very pretty and I have a picture of her when she was 10 that looks like a 26 year old. Anyways, she had stuffed some socks in her bra so that she would look well stacked. I think we were probably about 8 or 9 at the time. When we got to the school, one of the teachers told her that her boobs were lumpy and proceeded to adjust them for her. Okay, so maybe that's more disturbing than funny... Amanda moved away to Missouri when we were still in elementary school. I have tried to find her several times, but have been unable too.
End of elementary school- Stacey. What brought us together was a common crush on the same boy on our bus. The boy ended up being my first true love (yes, in elementary school! ) and Stacey and I still talk once in a while. She and I had many goofy times together and had a lot of fun. She was the friend that I grew apart from.
She moved to a new school district and we still talked, but I grew up and she didn't. I remember having a birthday party (my first co-ed celebration) that she was at. She called me after the party and yelled at me for not spending the entire time with her. Hmm, that was pretty much the end of the friendship. A few years later I was working at a bookstore and she came in. We still see each other every once in a while now, but aren't close at all.
Middle school- Summer. She was the friend that I got into the most trouble with, although we never meant to do anything wrong. We were in the same "group" of best friends, but we were the closest to each other than any of the others. She had a beautiful singing voice and I remember her singing me to sleep at one of our many overnights. She moved away after middle school and we lost track of each other. I ran into her mom a couple of times over the years and about a year ago I got an email from Summer.
I don't know where she found my email address, but it was great to hear from her. We still email on a pretty regular basis, but it's been years since we have seen each other. We went to a New Kids on the Block concert together in our younger days. High school- Olivia. I don't really know what to say about Olivia. We also grew apart.
We met in our freshman year when I went to her house to work on a group project for school. I was the only one from the group that showed up and then I found out it was her birthday. I was sad for her that on her birthday, instead of having a party, we were working on homework. We were pretty much inseparable for the next 6 years. We saw each other through much of our personal growing up. I remember shoving her boyfriend into a locker when I found out they had had sex for the first time.
I told him that if he hurt her, I would kill him. Her family was just as crazy as mine, but I remember thinking it was weird because her parents were still married. Kinda sad huh? A few years ago, Olivia got married and I was her maid of honor. We had already grown apart somewhat, but I did it anyways. We talked once after that, but I haven't seen her since then.
She had a baby 2 years ago, and I cried when I found out because I always thought we would be best friends forever and that we would share that amazing moment together. I ran into her parents a month ago and it was nice to see them. As weird as they were, I loved them dearly. She is doing well and her little boy is adorable. I often wonder what it would be like to be back in contact with her, but things didn't end on a really great note. That brings me to adulthood- Dolores.
Dee and I met at B&N, where we worked together. It was an instant friendship and it was really neat to meet someone I had so much in common with. Dee was married and had an adorable little girl. Her husband is in the military and spent some time out of the state. We would go to her house and watch movies and hang out while he was gone, but we also had fun while he was home. They are both great people and her husband is so full of energy.
He had no trouble keeping up with their 2 year old! I had had very little experience with military families, so I wasn't prepared when they got orders to move to another state. They moved to Montana just a couple of short years after our friendship was started. Neither of us is very good at keeping in contact, but when we talk it's like we just saw each other last week. I miss her so much. They moved to England about a year ago and I hope to go see her there before they have to leave that country.
She's the one that called last night. I haven't been able to find anyone that I feel the same way about since she left. Nobody can replace her. I really wanted her to be my maid of honor, but our timing was bad and the proposal and wedding didn't come until she had moved out of the states. My most long term friendship is Ragan. We have known each other since we were little kids.
We are still great friends to this day and I really enjoy her company. It's great to have a friend that I share so much history with. She is an amazing person and goes to great lengths for those that she cares about. I don't doubt that we will be friends for the rest of our lives, and hopefully we can share many grown up adventures together. It's amazing to see someone go from little kid to adult married woman. I can't wait to see her as a mommy because she will be great at it.
Even with all these varied girlfriends, my best friend is my husband. He is a tremendous person. I feel very lucky to have met him especially when I look back at all the losers I dated. I can't imagine going through life without someone like him. The instant we met, I knew this was the man for me. He worked at B&N when I went in for my interview.
He knew who I was when I went to ask for the manager. I went home and told my mom that the interview went well, but that there was this really cute boy that worked there and I was going to date him. 6 months later we were together and haven't been apart since. 5 and a half years later we were married! It was such a new experience for me to be with someone who was as intelligent (if not more so) as me and who had such common interests. Sometimes he would say things before we started dating that would just reaffirm my belief that we were meant to be together.
I remember walking away from him because I was getting tearful several times before we started dating because he said something that made me even more sure we were supposed to be together, and he didn't get it yet. I finally wrote him a letter letting him know how I felt, got the courage up to give it to him, and told him to read it and never mention it to me. Okay, being a girl that's not really what I meant. I meant, read it and then come tell me that you love me too and that you want to spend the rest of your life with me. He didn't say a word. A couple of months after we started dating, I found the note at his house.
He had kept it. I asked him why he had never said anything about it, and he said because I told him not to. Go figure! What all of this means to me is that I have been very lucky to be involved with such diverse people. I enjoy meeting new people and making new friends, but these are the friends that I will always have the most memories of. If any of those old friends are reading this, know that I love you and miss you.
Thank you for being part of my life. Without you, I would not be the person I am today. 
