Last weekend I traveled up to the San Francisco Bay area to reunite with my 2 childhood best friends. I met Tina and Diana (sisters) back in 1974 as Tina and I were entering the 5th grade and Diana was entering the 4th grade. The 3 of us hit it off right away and over the years, it's been such a blessing to call them my bff's.
The 3 of us have been through so much as you can imagine... It always seemed like every other year, I would be closer to one or the other. In the 5th Grade, Diana and I were fast buddies; playing board games on their front porch, lying on the hood of their mom's station wagon singing songs, and complaining about the other neighborhood girls who we didn't like much. We'd laugh at each other's jokes, make fun of each other's feet, and promised to be "best friends forever!"
In the 7th grade, as Tina and I moved on to the middle school, we began to get much closer. She and I began to learn of grown up things like "boys and booze." (Don't gasp, we both turned out alright...) We had classes together, passed notes to each other, took the bus to the beach with the "cool crowd," wore yellow gym shorts every day in P.E. and promised to be "best friends forever!"
This trend continued on until high school, back and forth every other year it seemed, one sister or the other and I were just always close. I remember being devastated the summer their dad told them they were "moving away..." In one packing of a U-haul truck, I lost my two best friends. That was the summer before my Junior year, and let's just say that was the saddest year of all time. I missed them so much and had a hard time making new friends. Eventually, they each made their way back to California and even after several years of seperation, it always seemed like we could just slip right back into that "best friends forever" mode.
Over the years, we 3 have been through so much together. Through all the ups and downs and moves all over the country, we've just made it through. Seeing them again this trip proved to me that having two people in the world who know you, faults and all and still love you no matter what, is priceless. They've both been there for every break-up, every cry fest, all those troubled 20's years, we all went to Chippendales and watched practically naked men dance around, we've laughed until we cried (or pee'd my pants) I was in Diana's wedding, Tina was there the night I met TL, they both know my mom from way back and get it when I say how much I miss her... I mean, these are the stories of my life and when I think about it, they're the ones who've been there, they have my back, I have theirs, we have history that nobody else can share. They get it. They get me. I get it, and I get them.
I love them both and now their extended families with all of my heart. This little trip nourished me, filled my heart with love and gratitude indeed. And, I especially love that we've been able to keep our promise to each other to be "best friends forever..!"
Diana, Jill and Tina... BFF's!
And if you'd like to see more, here is the rest of my trip...
