Sometimes I Write

I don’t have just one favorite of anything, especially people.

My best childhood friend? Easy! My cousin Jodee. We didn’t go to school together, but we went to church together and more importantly, church summer camp. We were the Wood girls, and we were inseparable most of the time. She was my first true friend. We trusted each other with our secrets and had halves of best friend necklaces. We laughed, prayed, cried, sang, crushed, served, dreamed, and grew up…together. I don’t know what I was to her, but she was my rock. I wish I had a picture of us together when we were little. The only one I know of is the two of us standing in front of the fireplace and I’m wearing my underwear over my pants. I’d share it if I had it. 😉

High school best friend? This is where it starts getting tricky. Jodee was still at the top of my list, but I also had my best guy friend from school – Tim Ranis, two best girl friends from school – Lyanna Steers and Lisa Bashaw, and two best friends from camp – Rob Martinson and Jeremy Harness. Three guys. Three girls. Through the magic of Facebook, I’m still connected to them all! Lucky me! If I had planned better, I could have shared pics of all of them, but that requires tracking them down in photo boxes, or stalking them on Facebook.

College brought a whole group of best friends into my life in the form of the DOE Club. We were a small group of dorm girls who bonded over Oreos, Tropicana Twister, and hours-long conversations about all aspects of life. What happened in DOE meetings stayed in DOE meetings. Secrecy and trust are essential when you’re splaying open your chest so everyone can see your heart, so we never allowed new members to join us no matter how much we loved them. Too much had been shared. It sounds selfish, but it was self-preservation. I love my DOEs!

Even within this AMAZING group of girls, there was one I was closer to than the others, and she’s still one of my best friends today. Since our college days, Tawnya (Widel) Hart and I have traversed many of life’s mountains and valleys together. We live ten hours away from each other, but still manage to stay in touch. We’ve traveled to see each other many times, and a few years ago my best friend from Denver and I met up with Tawnya and flew to the east coast to vacation for a week together in the Berkshires. What a fabulous trip!

Last but not least, my college guy best friend and favorite nerd/geek on the planet – Kevin Lewis. We traveled together for the singing group we were in, met weekly to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation, and he walked me down the aisle at my wedding. It’s really a toss-up which guy was more influential in making me see my worth as a woman in a non-sexual way – Tim or Kevin. I adore them both! We got to spend some time together this summer and it made me so happy to watch our daughters become friends. So what if there’s a ten-year age difference.

I can’t even get into all of the best friends I’ve had in the last 23 years since college. There’s one or two in every city I’ve lived in, every group I’ve been part of, and every season of life I’ve been through so far.

All of my friends are the BEST!

Go read about my friend’s friends here:

Don at donhillson.wordpress.com

Beckie at free2b2much.blogspot.com

Tracy at countyroadchronicles.wordpress.com