For a Friend

This is for the friend that I met in Bob Kennedy’s second grade Sunday School class.

This is for the friend who knows who my first crush was (and would never tell... probably because she had a crush on him too).

This is for the friend who never said anything about my dubious fashion sense in the sixth grade. Although I’m not really sure I should thank her for that.

This is for the friend who stayed up all night with me, telling jokes, talking boys, crafting soap opera worthy futures, and designing “The Most Beautiful Dresses In The World!”

This is for the friend who didn’t slap me when she said, in reference to her then current boyfriend, that they “had so much in common! I hate watermelon candy and HE hates watermelon candy!”, and I laughed in her face.

This is for the friend who held me when I cried broken hearted tears over a guy, while telling me that he wasn’t worth it in the first place.

This is for the friend who gave me my first "tattoo".

This is for the friend who gave me a french mani-pedi the night before my wedding, and cooked biscuits for me the morning of the big day... even if I only ate half of one.

This is for the friend who held my hand (and possibly a leg) during both of my daughters’ births.

 This is for the friend who looked at my bare toes the other day, and said, "I just had a flashback to when we were kids, sitting on your bedroom floor." A true friend has known your toes your whole life.

This is for the friend who has known me longest; at my worst, and I hope, will know me at my best... although I’m still working to get there.

 

This is for the friend who I said goodbye to tonight. The one who is crossing over to her own “Promised Land”.

This is for you, Friend:

Always remember, I’m here for you.

Always remember, I love you.

Always remember, any tears we've shed are counted, and are well worth it.

And always remember, after 20 years, countless laughs, fights, hugs and high fives, closet raiding, and secrets, what’s a few thousand miles?