Best Friends

I've never been one to use the term "Best Friend" lightly. I've always felt that someone really needs to earn a best friend standing in my life, they can't just pop up and become such. This could be because I'm just ridiculously anal about things or it could be because I've not been told I was someone's best friend very often. But then again I haven't used that term in so long I'm afraid I may have forgotten what exactly a best friend might be.

In elementary school my best friend was this girl Kristen. We did everything together all the time until she was transferred into a magnet school and we only saw each other on the rare special occasion. My best friend then became one half of a set of twins. We always did things together and I think that lasted clear through the rest of Elementary school... 2nd grade through 5th grade at least. Middle school my best friend was Angela. We were both really weird and that suited me just fine. In High School I had TWO best friends! WOW! I'd hit the jack pot! Michelle and Karmann... we were in band together and did just about everything together. If I wasn't with Michelle hanging out I was with Karmann. K and I both started dating these two guys at the same time and so we did the couple thing constantly...mostly because my parents wouldn't let me date and hanging with Karmann and her boyfriend was the only way I could hang with my boyfriend. After I quit band my friends and I drifted apart. My senior year I was still best friends with Michelle but Karmann had found a new best friend...not that we weren't friends at all but we no longer did everything together and we didn't talk all the time.

When I went to college orientation I met my first life long best friend, Alaina. Alaina and I were both crazy and had a blast together. All the way through college, no matter what happened, we remained best friends...even after college I still feel like Alaina is my very best friend. It sucks when your very best friend lives on the other side of the US and you're constantly broke so you never see each other. But I think no matter what has happened, Best Friends have come and gone, the best friend I made in college will forever be my best friend. I cried when I couldn't be at her wedding and I pray that she'll be able to be at mine one day. Even if I have to pay to get her here!

As I said before, it has been very rare for someone to tell me that I am their best friend. It shocked me the other day when in a conversation my friend said I was her best friend. I didn't say anything at the time because it was mid-conversation, but the comment did not go un-noticed. It touched my heart a great deal to be called her best friend. I have often felt like we could be best friends but lately I have kept away from using that term since I haven't really felt like I was any particular persons best friend. I've always felt like if you're going to not just be a friend but a BEST friend, you have to be the person someone goes to for everything... as a girl that means anything from emotional turmoil to shopping advice and beyond and I've felt like several people lately could be my best friends but there is always someone else in their life that has taken that slot. There are at least three people in my life right now (excluding my baby sister) that I feel like I can talk about anything in my life with and I've felt like they come to me in the same way. But until I started thinking about the comment my friend made I didn't even think to call them Best Friends. Well now I feel like if anyone is going to be my best friend these three girls will always be! They have been there for me through relationships, job stress, pain, sickness, love lost and love won, and I'm sure they'll be the only three women standing next to me when I get married. And I'm pretty sure that no matter what happens in my life or theirs they will always be there for me to count on.