30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 9

so the day 9 topic was actually "how you want your future to look like."  i thought that was kind of redundant after "where you'd like to be in 10 years."  so i changed the topic :)  hope you don't mind.





enjoy!

Day 9 – Share about your closest friend.

there are a handful of people in my life i am extremely close with, but katelyn sutton has been my best friend since i was 9 years old and she must be written about because she is extremely important to me.

kate and i met through a mutual friend, katie dawson, at first baptist church of fair oaks.  i remember the exact moment meeting her.  a few of us girls were sitting on the concrete outside of the church.  i was always shy when i met new people, so i sat quietly as everyone made conversation.  and kate never shut up.  she was annoying and loud and i couldn’t stand her.

that’s all i remember.  and then somehow, sooner rather than later (i don't know how it happened), we were friends!  best friends.  that’s just how kids work, i guess, haha.  her and i just clicked.

looking back, i have no idea why.  she really was annoying.  she used to sit on me and laugh when i couldn’t get up.  one time, she pulled down my swimsuit bottoms in front of her brother, who i was literally in love with.  another time, she kicked open the door in a public restroom when i was going to the bathroom.





yeah.  that was my best friend.

despite all that though, we got along.  maybe because, despite how embarrassing, those moments were actually kind of funny and she made me laugh.  she was loud and crazy and didn’t care what people thought of her and that drew me in.  but past all that, i think we really connected on a deep level, even for elementary school kids.  we were always there for each other and we trusted each other.  there was actually a group of girls at church that kate used to be friends with, who hated me, and started hating her  because she was friends with me.  that didn’t matter much to her, for some reason.  she lost a group of 5 and gained one.  i have to say, i think she made the right decision ;) only because that group of friends has since parted ways but her and i have (for the most part) remained constant.

once in a while, we'll run into an old friend from first baptist church of fair oaks.

and they will ask, you guys are still friends?!

yes, we are.

we both agree that the main reason our friendship has lasted this long is honesty and trust.  it sounds simple and cliché, but it works.  i will always tell her when i think she is making dumb choices.  i will always tell her when she has done something to hurt my feelings or make me mad.  i will always tell her when she is settling for less than the best.  i will always tell her when a haircut looks really pretty on her (or really not pretty on her).  and she will always do the same for me.



kate and i have been through a lot together.  divorces and broken hearts and the loss of friends and trying to figure out who we are.  more than can be described in one blog post, or even several blog posts.  when you are best friends with someone from the age of 9 to 22, that friendship becomes something you can’t describe.  it simply just is.

below is part of an email i sent to her over the summer, right after i moved down to southern california and after she had made plans to move up to washington.  the realization of our growing up was finally settling in, which is where all my thoughts came from.  sorry if it’s a little mushy and gushy, haha, but it describes our friendship perfectly.  i am more than blessed to say that i have had one friend through it all.  one person who has always kept me going in the right direction but has never let me forget all the great memories i’ve left behind.  i wouldn’t change that for the world.

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so if i had a glass, i would make a toast.  to the past, the present, and the future.  saying goodbye to old hurts, old heartaches, but not forgetting who we’ve loved and the lessons we’ve learned along the way.  to not forgetting all our drives, our talks, our tears.  to all the letters, the phone conversations… to all the adventures, the long talks, and great songs… to all the fads, TV shows, and old clothes… to all the streets in Sacramento and beyond that have our name written on them. to all the heartbreaks we thought we’d never recover from. to all the friendships we thought would last and we lost.

i would toast to this friendship.  the true demonstration of love between two people, who have carried each other through the depths of the darkest valleys, and have rejoiced together at the very tip of the highest mountain tops.

and it’s not over yet.

there will be more valleys, maybe darker,

and mountains, higher.

and i will be here through it all.

i will carry you.

i will rejoice with you.

i will be your best friend.



if i took your name, Katelyn Marie Sutton, out of my past,

the past i cherish would cease to exist.

to sum up my childhood, my teenage, my adult years,

into one thing,

it would be you.

my best friend.