There was a time when I was joined at the hip with this other girl. We met in 10th grade in 1998 when I moved from AL to NC and every waking moment from then until 2006 we were inseparable. Now I have her email marked as Spam so I never have to look at it because it's just Mary Kay things and we have even stopped sending each other mass "Merry Christmas/Happy Thanksgiving" texts and even ignoring each other's birthday's now.
Denture daddy. Lawnanity. You put the anger in my Ranger. McDonald's Arches. Humphrey who technically wasn't hump free. Spiral curling iron. Tag-line sun burn. Jolly Ranchers for a dollar at school. FTW (before it meant "for the win"). John Deere. Fishbowls of Beetlejuice! Pillars. Horn dog- jolly ranchers for Zima. Mustard and Ketchup. Attacking birds. Black guy named Marcus. Sharing 2nds. Strippers who smell like cabbage. Knocked out of the bed by Amos. You have really...great...teeth. "No, no, no, YES! Where did YOU come from?!" Mix-match clothing photo shoot. Cuddle slut. Willoughby Park. Wilmington. "I think we made a wrooong turrrn". Stranger. "Freaks in 322!" Size of an acorn. Bacon cheese fries with a side of monkey ranch. He tastes like plastic. Snail with a sweater on.
You don't know what any of that means. But she does.
There are times when I see her post something on Facebook, or I see something that sparks a memory, or I see something I know she'd laugh at and I start thinking about her. Then I start missing her. Then I remember my bachlorette party being ruined because I had to spend the entire night taking care of her and her friend when they thought it'd be a good idea to drink an entire bottle of Patron. Or about how she told me I needed to break up with my then bf, now hubby, because he just didn't fit in. Or when she'd insist I pay for her wood flower sculpture thing that would fall to pieces whenever you touched it but she refused to replace my DOLCE AND GABANNA sunglasses when her dog chewed them to pieces. Or how I was demoted from being her maid-of-honor when a banking error meant I didn't have the funds to go on her out of state bachlorette party. Or when she stopped speaking to me when I didn't join Mary Kay to be one of her minions.Then, when I have my hand on my phone about to text her and I remember it all, I put my phone back down.
I think there may be too much between us to move past. Too much history, too much hurt on both our parts. So I'll never regret her, I'll probably always miss her, and I'm going to let go of the misdeeds of our youth and hold on to the laughs we had.
Sounds like good advice. I two would do what you did. Moving past old friends can be tough but it can also be nessisary! I am always saded when someone goes back to an old friend like that and has to learn all over again. So though your post was sad/heartwarming it made me happy to see you make the right decision!
ReplyDeleteI've got a friend like that too. I call him my lifer, even though I'm pretty sure I'll never see him again. I think it's all for the best, even if it does cause heartache.
ReplyDeleteI think most all of us have had "that" friend. The one you always went above and beyond for, but they never put nearly half as much effort into the friendship. Sometimes it's better to part ways and just look back on the good memories. Otherwise you find yourself bitter and hating a person you don't even know anymore.
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