I had no idea that staying in touch with your high school friends was weird until I went off to college. Don't get me wrong, my college friends (who are equally amazing in their own right--I'll go into detail in a future post I'm sure) were still very much connected with people from back home but probably not to the degree that I was. It felt everyone else had dropped their old friends like a bad habit, forgotten them like the lyrics to a Kanye West song and here we were, visiting each other at school and not outgrowing each other. What the hell was wrong with us?!
I've always thought about what made us different, what made us so invested in each other that we cared enough to keep making the effort to stay close after all these years. It might have been the fact that we went to a relatively small high school in a seemingly small town that played a big part in how close we became and undoubtedly stayed throughout the trying years of college and even more trying years of post grad. Maybe it was because most of us went to grade school together and witnessed each other go through our "braces and bangs" stage. Who knows. I can only chalk it up to us being lucky.
Every holiday break, every summer, every occasion we were planning trips and events to be together. There was never a week that passed that I didn't speak to all of them and we still talk every single day. I will never be able to truly put into words what these lifelong friends mean to me but I'll damn sure try. Here are a few reasons why my high school friends are the real MVP's!
1. They give holidays new meaning. From St. Patrick's to President's Day we will use any excuse to get together. Birthdays are always better when they are around and by now pretty much every occasion had transitioned into a validated excuse to reunite, dress festively and drink heavily. "You guys got anything planned for Arbor Day?"
2. Words are unnecessary. I never need a wordy explanation or expressive dialogue for them to understand where I am coming from or what I'm thinking. All it takes is a "look" and they instantly know exactly what's happening, my thoughts on it, and how/when we are taking action regardless of the situation. It hasn't been proven or documented, but I believe that we could communicate an entire covert operation with the bat of an eye. Beware.
3. We are fiercely loyal. We have each others back come hell or high water. They hate someone? So do I. I actually probably hate them more. If I have a problem, they'll solve it. We don't think twice about jumping in the car for a two hour ride because one of us is upset over a breakup or just needs someone in their corner. We support each other 100% even when one of us is acting like a certified wackadoodle doo. We operate as a unit and if you thought one of us was bad...buckle up, honey. It gets so much worse.
4. We are a package deal. Sure, we care if our family likes who we are seeing but the true test is bringing him around our girls and guys knows this. They bring their A game, buy us all drinks and if they're smart they'll come equipped with their own posse of bros for us to pick over. We ask them tons of questions, make them feel uncomfortable and enjoy every second of. If he doesn't get an attitude or become anti-social...he can stay...for the time being anyways. After all, we already know for a fact that us girls are going to be together forever, we just have to decide if he gets to be a part of that.
5. We love each other despite each other "unique" medical conditions. We even make fun of each other for them. Might sound cruel and unusual to some but it works for us. Don't question it.
6. Their family is my family and vice versa. It's completely normal for us to pop in at each others parent's house unannounced and stay for dinner. We are close with each others siblings and might even have a nickname for them. Hell, we even text each others parents from time to time because you haven't truly lived until you've received an inspirational video from Wiley Reddick early on a Monday morning--just saying.
7. Insults become terms of endearment. We playfully call each other names and sometimes, for that moment anyways, we might even mean every word that we say but regardless we love each other just the same. Being best friends means you can speak without a filter to one another but I'll be damned if we allow anyone else to even consider it.
8. We roll deep. At this point in our lives it often takes a great deal of time and money to be in the same place at the same time but we all put in the work because it's sooooo worth it. We are all off doing our own thing and hopefully laying the foundation for the life of mansions and early retirement we've been planning for since we were young and it isn't as easy as it used to be for all of us to do fun things together. So, the few times a year we are ALL able to be reunited we make the most of it. We realize that people are probably tired of seeing pictures of us and probably think "gah, they are all still friends?!" #SorryBoutIt #CantStopWontStop
9. Every major memory or life event, they're in it. The good ones, the bad ones, the ones we never thought we'd get through and the ones we are still trying to navigate through, some way or another they were there. They've seen me at my best and at my absolute worst so that's really how I know I can trust them when they tell me I'm having a "pretty" day or if maybe I should consider getting a spray tan before I break out the shorts.
10. One day I know that my kids will have one kick ass group of aunts that will most likely ruin any positive parenting strides I've made with an embarrassing story from my younger days. I can only hope that there isn't any photographic proof to back up their claim.
11. They know my mother inside and out and they still want to be friends with me.
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