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Thursday, December 08, 2005 

That's what friends are for

I met E and A my Freshman year of high school. They had already been friends years earlier and whenever I saw the two of them together, I was envious of that strong bond. They weren't in the popular cliques but they weren't looked down upon either. Any time they were hanging around together, they looked happy and like they were having F.U.N.

My best friend from elementary school and middle school was going to a different high school and whenever we spent any time together, I could see drastic changes in her that made me uncomfortable. In the summer leading up to high school, LSL had become more willing to "experiment" with boys, drinking and other activities I decided I wasn't really ready for. By Christmas break she was earning straight A's in all the WRONG extra-curricular subjects and our 5 year friendship was dying. Sadly, I never really talked to her any more and despite the differences between us, I really missed her.

When classes started back up in January, I would spend my lunch eating red licorice or one of those fried burritos high school cafeterias excelled in marketing. Our campus was one of the very first built in the city and had it's own large auditorium with a connecting 3 or 4 story classroom building. Flanking the entrance to the auditorium were 2 sets of fire escapes, made of lovely concrete with just enough shelter at the top for a bored and very lonely me to sit and freeze. My rear end had had enough of it and I decided I was going to crack that pair open and wedge my way in!!

I haven't seen E since she moved away in 1997. She's coming out at Christmas with her daughter and her boyfriend/significant other/great-sounding-guy. It's going to be terrific to get together after all this time. I can't wait to see her daughter, who in pictures is the INCARNATION of E.

A and I have had our hot and cold spells when it comes to communicating. Our lives have definitely changed from sitting in her room late at night plotting how we'd win Mtv's Spring Break contest with the Beastie Boys in Daytona Beach. But when we do get together, she can still make my ribs ache from laughing so hard.

You know, thinking back to that fateful time when I realized I wanted to be their friend, I also remembered how they were as sweet then as they are now and I didn't have to try very hard. They welcomed me into their hi-jinx faster than you can pull on a pair of fishnets and high heels...yeah, much faster.

High speed montage through the years with lots of laughs, tears, triumphs, disappointments, scares, uncertainty, boyfriends, secrets, careers, husbands, children thrown in.


Oh........ and love. Don't forget the love.