All you have to do is call and I’ll be there

Last night the hubby and I had dinner (Mexican!) with one of my old high school friends and her boyfriend.  Normally I don’t like planning things for Sunday nights and more often than not our Sundays are spent in pjs but last night was an exception.  K and her boyfriend have crazy schedules so it’s hard to plan dinners like this.  They both had Sunday off so we thought it would be a perfect time for all of us to hang out.  I’m so glad we did!

K and I met in middle school and became fast best friends.  Middle school was a weird/awkward time for me.  My best friend throughout elementary school decided that I was “too nice” (those were her words!) to be her friend in middle school and besides, we didn’t really have any classes together.  I guess if you’re going to be “too” something, nice isn’t all that bad.  It’s better than being “too slutty” or “too snobby” or “too much of an idiot.”  Though I have to admit it still hurt. 

K and I had some classes together and discovered our love for dancing, movies and being stuck in that awkward group – not being popular but not being the ones everyone picks on.  Soon we were eating lunch together every day and hanging out after school.  We carried this friendship through high school – our first jobs, getting our licenses, first boyfriends (both named Brian coincidentally!) – pretty much we bonded a lot during “firsts.”  Around the time of my junior year in college our relationship got a little strained.  She always dated these guys who were….well, jerks.  They didn’t treat her how she deserved to be treated and they were all very jealous – even to the point of not allowing her to go out with her friends.  At one point she moved to the Midwest with one of these jerks.  She left a wonderful job with the state to follow him back home.  About a year later she moved back to our hometown, at age 23 she declared bankruptcy because her boyfriend would use rent/car/grocery money for who knows what (later found out he was into opiates).  She was still with him (why, I don’t know!) but one day she asked me if I was ever followed.  Turns out her lovely boyfriend would have K followed if she went out without him.  When she mentioned this to me we had a long heart to heart.  I told her that she’s a wonderful girl and had her whole future ahead of her.  She could go back to school, get a job she really likes, get to know her friends better, get to know herself better if she got rid of him.  He was just bad news.  She went from boyfriend to boyfriend – no breaks in between so she didn’t know any better.  Then I told her I was a bit tired of hearing about everything he did to hurt her and she not doing anything about it.  It broke my heart but I told her that it would be me or him – I was not going to put up with someone else’s  boyfriend following me or having to keep having these conversations. 

So, we stopped talking. 

It hurt like hell at first but I lived my life.  Then I met my husband and we got serious and soon we were engaged.  I kept thinking “I can’t believe I’m planning a wedding without K in my life.”  It was hard to swallow – the fact that here’s another first in my life and we’re not experiencing it together. 

Last April I found her through the magic of MySpace.  I emailed her and basically asked her questions about her life, etc.  She replied back and we decided to meet up for dinner and drinks.  We picked up where we left off and it was wonderful. She kicked her old boyfriend to the curb and was single for a while and just started dating this wonderful guy she was friends with.  She had a kick ass job and just received a bonus.  Pretty much everything I knew could happen to her did.  I was so happy she was back in my life.  She came to my bridal shower and my bachelorette party and was the amazing friend she was all through middle and high school.  During my bachelorette party when some bridesmaid drama occurred she drunkenly told me that I should kick out the drama-llama and have her as a bridesmaid.  If family weren’t involved, I would have done that in a heartbeat.  Looking back at wedding photos my heart still sinks a little that K isn’t standing up there in a matching dress with her hair all up.  But I’m also a firm believer in fate and everything happens for a reason.  I’m just so glad to have her back in my life again.

And I’m so glad we can experience all of life’s little firsts together again.