Saturday 17 January 2015

Best Friend Meetings

January 17, 2015

Darn! Making the three posts a week goal is not working out. I'll get better. There are a lot of unblog post related things going on in my head lately, and I haven't felt like posting. When I have felt like posting, I still didn't do it.


So today is the day.


It is a prompt day. (Or it was when I started this post almost a week ago.) I actually have a lot I could talk about, and I still have to do a gratitude post, but I'll start with this one I've been working on for a long time.



Tell the story of how you met your best friend.


This is taking me longer to write than it should. Part of the reason is because I want to do my friend's justice, and I frankly don't think I can. I guess this is just about how I met them, but still. 


I don't like picking favourites, but these are some friends who have been around FOREVER! 



My best friends:


Karen: It's kind of funny how we met. It was at a Youth Forum, also known as a church event for United Church teens. I think it was a weekend event. It's kind of like a weekend camp for teenagers, so basically boys and girls that have crushes on one another and 'date' for the weekend. I didn't date anybody, but I had fun. It's strange because neither of us are religious now. If you ignore the church stuff, basically it was camp. I enjoyed anything that gave me a break from Plenty. We met in 1996. She was 15, and I was 16. (Maybe, I actually can't remember specific ages.) At this particular meeting, we might have talked about twice. We didn't become instant best friends. We were acquaintances at best. She was this cool girl who showed up late, and everybody seemed to know. We met again at a United Church conference. It was another chance for the youth to meet up. You know, now that I'm writing this, it's kind of a cool idea for youth to keep in touch. Anyway, we hung out more that weekend. We talked, had fun, and found out we had connections outside of the United Church community. (By the way, the United Church, is basically, the easiest church to be a part of. I don't participate in any church anymore, but if I were to choose, it would still be United.) Karen knew my cousin and his kids (cousins), and it was a strange connection, but it probably helped us become better friends. She lived close to my grandma's city, so we would hang out when I went to visit. We didn't become best friends until later, but it was a great friendship. We weren't always close, but we were always friends.


Karen has always been a beautiful person inside and out. She knows what she wants, and she lives a life that not only reaches her goals, but also helps people along the way. It seemed like she always had a clear picture of what she wanted in life. (I, on the other hand, still don't know what I want in life). 


We live in the same city right now, and I'm so grateful that I get to see her and her family. She's got two awesome boys (plus an awesome husband), and I'm really happy I get to be "Auntie Erin".


I could go on and on, but that's how we met. She was a cool girl who I thought would make a great friend, and I was correct. 


When I used to watch Sex and the City, I'd imagine my friends as the characters on the show. Karen would be a Charlotte. (But less uptight -haha).  


Denise: We also met in an unconventional way. I had friends in Plenty, but I met my forever friends outside of my high school. The summer before I started Grade 12, I decided to go to a Writing Camp. Denise and I met the summer of 1997. We were both participants of the Writing Camp. I don't know if she feels like that the way I do about meeting Karen at a church camp. Like it's a silly way to meet your best friend (because it's a dorky writing camp). 


On the other hand, I can admit loud and proud that I went to a writing camp when I was a teenager. I loved it, and I'm a writer, so it makes sense. 


Denise seemed to friend another girl at the camp right away, and I was actually a bit jealous that she wouldn't be my camp best friend. I thought Denise seemed so fun, and I wanted to be friends with her. As luck would have it, 18 years later, she's still one of my best friends. That summer, I met her, and I met my first boyfriend. (I KNOW! I was a late bloomer, and didn't find a boyfriend until I was 16). The boy didn't stay in my life, but the girl did. She was a crazy, loud girl who wasn't afraid of anything. She had and has great confidence in herself and in life. 


We became best friends quickly. When I went home, we talked on the phone ALL the time, we wrote letters, and we hung out when we could. Strangely, we hung out in the same place (Moose Jaw) that Karen and I did when I was in town, but not at the same times.  Denise is my Snotty, and I am her Bossy.




We both went to university in the same city. (Eventually - I took two years off before going back to school). We had off and on years as well. There were times that we weren't as close as others. 


Her friendship helped me through a lot. She helps people. If somebody is hurting or going through a hard time, she is there, she is making them eat, she is making them laugh, and she is there. This isn't just me she's done this for. I've seen her jump in with other friends who needed her.


Update, I forgot two things. One is that Denise is also gorgeous inside and out ( surround myself with beauty.) And two, her SATC character is Miranda. We all know it! Haha. 

Both Denise and Karen have been there through the most worst times of my life. I can't ask for more than that. I can't ever give back all that they gave me. This blog post 'love letter' to my best friends isn't even close to covering what they mean to me.  



Also: 


Jodi: Jodi and I met sometime after I was born. She's my older sister. We weren't always best friends, but we have been since graduating high school. I remember talking to a friend one time about best friends, and she said, 'well, you're lucky. You have a sister. That's an automatic best friend." At that moment, I realised she was right.


Jo and I make sure to communicate all the time. We email even though we live in the same city, and when we aren't in the same city, we communicate more. We tell each other worries and fears.


She is my smart and beautiful older sister, and I'm so incredibly lucky to have her.


Nehal: We met in 1999 at a job called Community Connections. It wasn't really a job. And to this day, I can't explain what exactly it was. Strangely enough, it was also in Moose Jaw. The city my grandma lived in, and the place I hung out with K and D when I was young. 


I had just returned from Katimavik (A WHOLE OTHER POST). N and I worked together, and we had a blast. We laughed at everything. We hung out a coffee shop. We sang badly. We shaved our heads together. (After bad dye jobs). 


Since meeting her, she's been the one to encourage my writing the most. We aren't in the same city now, and she's busy doing almost everything. (Am I wrong?) But anytime we meet up, it's just like old times. She's my friend, and I'm hers. We used to call each other twins. (Still are). Even though she's a year older. (HAHA).


James: He's my dude best friend. We met in South Korea. It was 2005. He worked at the same school as I. He knew me and probably saw me slowly come out of my shell. He was there when I broke up with my boyfriend (still in Saskatchewan). He teased me about breaking his heart, and while it wasn't really a funny situation, it helped me. I've spoken about him before. Here We started emailing after I left Korea, and eventually we were able to tell each other everything. He knows my secrets, and I know his. And we still like each other. (haha) 


Clint: If my boyfriend and partner of almost three years isn't my best friend, then we are doing something wrong. He is though. He is my best friend. We met because of online dating, but officially we met by the river. We chatted, and he asked me out shortly after. We've been going strong ever since. He's pretty awesome, and I'm able to talk to him about anything that's bothering me, and vise versa.


As an example, I had a bad day at work yesterday. Somebody treated me in a way that made me feel bad and unimportant. I didn't tell Clint about it until today, and now I wish I had told him sooner because he said the words that made me feel better. He helps me see things differently, and he helps me love who I am. 


He's another person who knows it all. My secrets, my past, my present, my future. I couldn't ask for more. 


Nancy: My mom is one of my best friends. As she should be. She raised me, she helped me become who I am, and she is my biggest and best supporter.



So in conclusion, I am incredibly lucky. I have other close friends, and I could go on forever about them, but I'm going to stop at these ones. Another post for another day. I'm grateful for all my friends, near and far. Life is better with friends.




As always,


"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."
Ralph Waldo Emerson


©ErinLeahMcCrea All photos I share on my blogs are my own, please Ask Me For Permission Before Using Them.

Prompts from: http://erinisawriter.blogspot.ca/2014/12/updated-prompts.html


Also, check out my ongoing book blog:  Proud Bookworm at: http://bookserinread.blogspot.ca/ 

Blogs I used to write on but not being updated:

http://lifeisgoodandhereisproof.blogspot.ca/
and
http://erinlm.blogspot.ca/

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