As a child you rolled down those big beautiful grassy hills for no other reason than to have fun. You got nice and dirty, full of grass stains and the most important part of the roll was making it to the very bottom in as many turns as possible. You always had a friend by your side and at some point you two would run into each other and not only did it not hurt, it made it more fun so the new funnest part of the hill rolling game was to see how many times could you bounce off your friend.
As you got older you found new and more interesting things to do. Sometimes those things got you into trouble, and sometimes they didn't...I suppose it all depended on IF you got caught. Some days were innocent, swimming at the town pool, going to school playground, riding bikes, etc. Other days maybe you went bridge jumping, perhaps you drew some graffiti on an old abandoned building in town, (mixed some Kool-aid with sugar ate the entire bag on a field trip and got yourself nice and sick) or maybe you tipped a cow or two...
As a teenager you snuck up behind that very hill you used to roll down, to the top, back behind trees to make out with your boyfriend. You made sure you told your mother you were going to your friends house and told your friend that you told your mother you were going to be at her house so when your mother called to check up on you your friend would cover for your lame ass because you knew you would be covering for her ass the next weekend.
In your early twenties you saw a whole new side of your friends...usually it was the acid in their stomach/lower intestine areas, lots of the backs of their necks from holding their hair back, and a lot of their ass. I don't know why, but for some reason in our early twenties we dress very provocatively and our friends always ask "does this make my ass look big?" No, no love it doesn't. If it did, I would tell you to take those off immediately and burn them at the stake. You don't need to ask me, although I'm going to ask you so I suppose it's only fair.
For my friends, God love them, they got the constant "Is there something in my teeth?" and "Wait I have to put on more deodorant!" questions/comments. Much later in the evening came the hair holding and acid watching.
Anyway, a tad farther down the line comes the honorary bridesmaid duties. We all stand up for one another and watch as each one of us takes the "plunge" into what we will call "wedded bliss" and watch our friends disappear into Mrs. someone or another. Sure they will always be our friend, but they are now someone else's wife. Something changes along the way, but we of course smile, hug and wish them all the love and happiness in the world.
Some time later comes babies and we all watch as we all age. We watch as our children go through the things we all went through together and we can only hope they make the friends we made along the way. We watch as they go through their first fight with their friends, first boyfriends/girlfriends, first love, first heartbreak, and you talk about it with your friends. You reminisce about "the good old days" and how times have changed, yet you still can talk to your friend like it was the first day you met.
We all know that there are certain "categories" we put people in. Whether we call them friends, acquaintances, co-workers, besties, frienemies, etc. It's those people that you know you can call up anytime, day or night, whether it's been 2 minutes or 2 years and pick up right where you left off and nothing has changed; those are the people that you know are your friends for life. Soul-mates. If you're lucky enough to have even one than consider yourself wealthy in life.
Being a friend means covering someone's ass when they need covering, being someone's rock when they have no solid ground left to stand on, and being there when everyone else has gone. Your someone's eyes, ears, shoulders, feet, hands, heart, stomach, body, mind, and soul when they need it most. I haven't always been the greatest friend, but I have some of the best, and I hope that at least to a few I can return the favor. I hope that my children are fortunate enough to find friends like I have
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