BFF: How long is forever?
- Michelle Wood: SWCD
- March 8, 2010
- 667
Like friendship.
Every woman who once was a little girl with pigtails and saddle shoes knows that her girlfriends were supposed to be BFFs – Best Friends Forever. When your biggest worry is who to play with at recess or who to sit with at lunch time in the cafeteria, vowing to be someone's BFF seems like a good idea.
When I was a little girl, my first BFF was Nikki – mainly because she lived around the corner from me. We grew up playing kickball on Inland Circle and getting lost in the woods behind our homes. I could tell Nikki anything, and she was always there to protect me when the big kids on the bus called me monkey face. She was tougher than I was and she stood up for me, a great quality in a BFF.
But in junior high, she became a cheerleader and I played basketball and our BFF status faded away.
Then I met Lisa in sixth grade English class and had a new BFF. We could stay up all night long giggling at sleepovers, shared our secrets and crushes, and finished each other's sentences. In ninth grade, she stood up for me when another so-called "friend" sent me a secret admirer pink carnation on Sweetest Day as a joke that wasn't that funny at all.
Lisa and I were BFFs all the way through college and were even in each other's weddings. But marriage, careers, children and geography grew us apart, and we now seem to live very separate lives.
Though forever didn't last forever, I still carry a piece of Nikki and Lisa with me, and know that they have helped me become who I am.
And today I have the best girlfriends I could have ever hoped for in my little girl years, friends who see the best in me and who accept me just as I am.
Teri cried with me when I suffered a miscarriage and is always there to listen when I need to complain about my day or celebrate when life goes my way. She is patient with me when I stress out and helps me keep my life on track.
Carla has seen me at my best and my worst, and knows I live most days somewhere in between. She boosts my ego as she thinks more of me than I really am and is always there to pray for me as I struggle with the daily challenges of raising four kids.
Nann invited my entire family to live with her family when we were without power for almost a week. Her matter-of-fact way of thinking helps me to stay focused of what I need to do and not to get wrapped up in doubt.
I guess forever starts today.
And if forever is too much to ask for, I will simply be thankful for the friendships I have today, live in the moment and hope that tomorrow they will still be around.
Catch up with Trish at www.TrishBerg.com where you can read her Tips for Tuesday each week. You can also find Trish on Facebook and Twitter.