Friends Through the Years

Friends.....

When I think of all the friends that have been a part of my life the list sometimes seems endless. There's that first friend you made in Kindergarten....phew what a relief when you had someone to play with on the playground at recess. Then the groups of friends soon came around and throughout elementary school some left the group, some new ones joined the group, and sometimes we move around from group to group (daily) depending on who was involved in the coolest activity.

Then middle school came and oh how we turned into drama queens (yes I'm talking about you boys too). Your entire list of friends could quickly change to enemies with the passing of one note in Science class. For me at least, this is when the clicks became a bit more obvious. We were all trying to discover who we really are and where we fit in, trying a new group out weekly and seeing who related to your current predicament. Seating in the lunch room suddenly meant something more and your "friends" would let you know it. A true friend would deliver your message to your crush and help you break up with him the next month (also through a series of note passing in some class). Then on to the next heart-throb crush.

High school hit and as friends we sailed our way through classes that seemed to make us sound so mature... yet you still needed a good friend to watch your back when secrets were whispered throughout the room. Someone to be your wing-man, so to speak, when you approached that hot guy you'd been crushing on for such a long time. Someone to hang out with on the weekends and discuss those oh so important decisions, "Should I let him kiss me? What if I'm bad at it? I think I'm in love, should I tell him that? When are we going to plan that shopping trip?" Someone to call when you're drenched in tears because he was the love of your life and he broke your heart.

Now we're so grown up... in college, real jobs, some are married, have kids... and yet we still need a friend. Who is still there? Who can we count on to be there when times are REALLY tough and when we don't know what to do, or how to do it? Or when we just need someone to listen to our problems.

We turn to those faithful friends, the ones who have been there through it all, the ones who are no longer just friends, the ones who are family. Whether these people are related through blood, experience, or (if you're lucky) both they are the ones we know will be there for us no matter what stupid mistakes we make, no matter who else turns their back on us. These are not the friends that look past our imperfections and insecurities; these are the friends that fully embrace us with those imperfections and yes they may push us to be better people, but even if we "fail" if we never overcome those pesky little habits they will still love us just as we are.

Lets face it when we look back at our life, no amount of success in work or school will make up for the lack of good friends. So we should all take the time to let our friends know we care, and that we are truly blessed to have them in our lives.