Thursday, September 27, 2007

Make New Friends But Keep The Old

When I graduated High School, I remember being devastated at the fact that i was leaving behind some of the best friends I've ever had. It hurt to think our time together would never be the same, and that our relationships would slowly fade away. I remember crying thinking that "my girls" would soon become a distant memory and that I would soon have new friends to fill new memories with. But I didn't want new memories, I liked the ones I had already!

I of course got over that thinking, and did in fact make new friends, and I created a plethora of fantastic new memories, ones that I will never forget! But I was wrong about one thing. My relationships of my high school years didn't fade. In fact, they grew much much stronger. Sure I lost touch with a lot of my closest friends, but a majority of us still have consistent contact with one another. I have watched many of them marry their long time loves, and create a brand new life of their own. I have been with some through the deaths of parents and relatives, and have shared in the joys of new houses, apartments, and vehicles. I have danced my ass off, puked in ally ways, and sat on chairs and cried with these people. Through all these years they have remained my dearest, most cherished friends, and I will forever be thankful for the joy they have brought into my life.

People have often told me how rare it is to still have such a close knit group of friends from High School and I've often thought that maybe they were right. But then I came across this story in the Journal Sentinel this morning and I realized that we're not that strange after all. That people carry on life long friendships all the time. We're just one more group to add to that fantastic story of life.

I'm not sure where our respective lives will take us, but I hope that when we're all 75, we're still getting together and laughing about where we've all been together, just as these beautiful women are. How truly special it is, to be able to share in the journey of life, with some of your very best friends in the world.

2 comments:

Erin said...

Awww, what a sweet article! I hope we're all like that when we're old, too. :)

Danica said...

My friends and I talk about this all the time. We WILL be like that! I just know it. Friendships are amazing and probably the best things most of us will ever experience in our lives.