Relationships of Life

One of my best friends is getting married this week.  Though our mothers have known each other since their single years, we (the daughters) were never friendly because we didn't live near each other or attend the same schools. Lucy (not her real name) and I finally became friends on a summer touring program when we were sixteen.  She was painfully quiet back then and it took her a long time to bloom into the gorgeous woman she is now.

After that summer program, we became great friends.  We worked at sleep-away camp together the year after and even bunked in the same cabin.  Though we went to different high schools, we ended up spending our college years together.  We could talk for hours and felt extremely comfortable telling each other our deepest darkest secrets.  As her wedding approaches, I reflect not only on my friendship with Lucy but also on all of my childhood friendships. Most of them began when I was fifteen and sixteen years old and then when I entered college at eighteen.

As my friends and I go through life's phases (college graduation, engagements, marriage, babies), it is really nice to have those childhood memories with the same people.  When I see Lucy I no longer see the shy, glasses wearing girl.  I see a tall, confident woman, however I'll always have those memories and I can say, "I knew her back when?"  Also, I'll have some great memories to relay to her children.  Though one is always making new connections and friendships, childhood friends always play a huge role in one's life.

Just this week my best friend and I both had dates.  Mine was a second and I knew it probably wouldn't go past that.  My friend Jane (yea, her name's not really Jane) had a nice time on her first date and would have gone out with the guy again but he didn't want to pursue the relationship.  Though Jane didn't really care about seeing this guy again, she couldn't help but have a slightly bruised ego.  Basically she was rejected.  And even though she didn't care about this specific guy ? it still hurts to hear that a guy doesn't like you.  Jane and I go into every date thinking it'll be up to us to decide if we want to keep dating them.  Pompous? No.  Egotistical? No.  One needs a certain self esteem confidence when dating and this is how we get through it.

As Jane and I were still dissecting her date (yea, we talk endlessly about thing even when they are over ? we are women), she brought up her broken relationship that ended over a year ago.  She doesn't still harbor any feelings for this guy because he seriously broke heart.  One day out of no where, he said he wanted to end what they had.  They had even been talking about marriage at that point and in a flash it was over.  I remember not knowing how to console her even.  She cried for days and was even a little delusional thinking he would call her up and apologize.  And here she is over a year later (and after another failed long term relationship) ? she is totally fine, over him, and would never pine for him in her life.  Though the saying ?Time heals all wounds? is cliché, it definitely holds some truth to it.  Time allows us to forget (though not always forgive) and through time we mature and learn more about ourselves.  We can only hope that time will bring us closer to what we want in life.