God has blessed me with many amazing friends. From family, friends from home, and friends from school, I have had a chance to get to know and the pleasure of being friends with some pretty amazing people.
I guess the easiest way for me to describe what I think friendship is, is to make an analogy about it. My dad is a big fan of analogies and I think he passed that trait on to me (lucky you!) ha. Anyways, so I think of friendship as a highway. You have your smooth, easy parts of the highway that all you have to do is put on your cruise control, turn up the music and enjoy the ride. Then you have your rocky parts of the highway, where you have to sit up, buckle your seat belt, turn down the music and maneuver your way carefully down the road. Like all highways (and sometimes friendships), you have to choose which way to go and separate from a road you might have been on for a pretty long time and, not to mention, deal with the different obstacles that come with the journey. Is everyone still kind of following along with this obscure analogy? Lol. But this past year, I have come to the realization that no friendship is the same and I can’t expect them to be. I have a lot of different circles of friends and I cherish each one for different reasons. Here are the groups in a nutshell.
Family – I’m lucky enough to have family members that I consider my best friends. My sister is my best friend. She can always make me laugh and I know she only wants the best for me. Even though we live close to 8 or 9 hours apart (car ride) we are closer than we have ever been. She has the funniest dry sense of humor and no matter what, I know we will always stick up for each other. Brandon is my big brotha. He has always been a role model of mine and continues to be. He just graduated law school and continues to amaze the family. He’s a pretty cool guy. My parents never raised me as their friend. They always said, “We’re not here to make you popular or to be your friend; we are here to be your parents.” I have always respected that but now that I am married and on my own, I like to think that we have more of a friendship based relationship. I still get the occasional talks about money and how I need to be a grown-up but I take those as words of advice and not lectures. My parents will always be my parents but they we will also be friends.
Jason- He is the best kind of friend you can have. He is loyal and is stuck with me for life. In my opinion, friendship is a key factor in a successful relationship. You spend each and every day with your husband/wife and you know some of the deepest thoughts and share some of God’s biggest gifts together. One of my favorite things about our relationship is our friendship. Jason makes some of the simplest tasks more enjoyable. Like running to the store or picking up food, I like it best when Jason is with me. Or watching TV, I hate watching our favorite shows alone. I would rather wait a week before watching a show than watch it alone. My favorite part about actually watching TV is reacting to it together, talking about the situations together or sharing a laugh together.
Like the wise words of Jack Johnson:
The In-Laws - I have also gained more friends since Jason and I met, his family. Jason has two wonderful sisters that I am lucky to also call them my sisters. Jacquelyn and Heather are two wonderful ladies. They are beautiful inside and out and have welcomed me into their family with open arms. Jason and his sisters have a deep and loving bond and I am lucky to get to see it. Along with Heather and Jacquelyn come Mitch and Andy, their significant others. They are really great guys and really love their ladies. This group of wonderful people are friends that I will have forever and I am very happy for that.
Hometown friends – My hometown friends are fabulous ladies. I’ve learned from them that you don’t need to see each other all the time or talk every day to remain best friends. Unfortunately, we only get to all be together a few times a year but those times we are together we truly cherish and enjoy. It’s like we never were apart when we all get back together. We share some really special times together as well. Each of us are going our separate ways and doing our own things but we know that no matter what, we support each other 100%. I love these girls to death and will always be best friends with them.
College friends – I have definitely learned a lot from these friendships. We have had some really great memories together but it was definitely time for us to go our separate ways. I really don’t know if I will stay in touch with a lot of these friends but I cherish what we had and hope that whatever they are doing, they will be happy.
My TEMmers and Clubbers– What a great group of ladies and gents. These are the people I spend my nights and weekends with, where I enjoy lots of laughs and memories, and where I go to share the highlights and lowlights of the day. We are a really close group of friends and I am so thankful to have them in my life. They have been with Jason and me since the beginning of our relationship and it’s great because Jason and I share this group of friends. It’s not a fight to figure out whose friends we are going to hang out with on the weekend or have to put up with someone we aren’t fond of. We all have a great time together and I love it. It also doesn’t hurt that my bff is marrying Jason’s bff ha.
These two pictures really desctibe our friendships as a group ha. And of course, there are a few very important TEMmers missing!
So to wrap this up, I have realized that friendships have their good and bad times and I can’t get down because of it. I have to keep on driving and hope that the government has paved the roads for an easy trip ahead ;). I need to value the friendships I have and let go of some of the friendships that I once had. There’s no room in my life to dwell about something that might never be again. I love each and every one of my friends and I am lucky to have them in my life.
<3
DW
