Stand By Me

Last night was the first time I saw the movie "Stand By Me"... I know it may seem late, but since I was 5 when it came out, I have to plead too young to see it.  It was a cute movie, but it did make me think about the friends I have now and then.  I mean are any of you still friends with the same people you were friends with when you were 12.... for me not so much.  I am lucky enough to have two friends that I have known my entire life.

My one friend Tracy and I joke that we became friends when she handed me toys in the play pen.  My memory doesn't go that far back, but I have no reason not to believe her as I can't remember life without her in it.  She lived in the house behind me and was the friend I went trick-or-treating with, played house with, talk to boys about with... she was a year older so she experienced junior high before me, high school before me, was driving before me (which was great since she also drove me to school everyday too!).  And while we don't talk every day and live 1 1/2 hours away... when we do talk we can talk for hours and it's as if time has never passed.  A friend like that is hard to come by, but I will keep her close for the rest of my life.

Another friend, Jill, and I have also been close for as long as I can remember... our path was a bit rocky... she was younger and at times I was "too mature" for her.  But looking back she was the best person to play Barbies with!  Now, we are close, we also don't talk much or see each other much... but I can tell her ANYTHING, and vice versa, she has become more like a younger sister than just a friend.

I have made new friends in my life, in high school and college, even in the work force.  And while my friends from college and since are the ones I see and talk to more often, there is something about those childhood friends that I know are the friends you stay with forever... the friends that will stand by me no matter what happens (yes, I know it was a cheesy tie in to the title of the movie but hey)... I hope that everyone is lucky enough to have friends like that...