Thank you to Rockland Trust for being a proud sponsor of this post
Switching up the usual recipe program today to talk a bit about friendship and the story of how I met my oldest friend.
My family had just moved from Massachusetts to New Jersey. I was 10 years old and heading into fifth grade.
It was a terrifying place.
I knew no one, and I was feeling a bit anxious about starting all over again in a new school. My mind was put at ease right on day one when the teacher called out to the classroom to ask if anybody else lived near me. One girl’s hand shot right up; as it turned out we were neighbors, and from that moment on the best of friends. This girl, A, took me under her wing, introduced me to all her friends and invited me to her Spice Girl’s themed sleepover birthday party coming up the following week. As a die hard Spice Girls fan I was ecstatic.
While we had a great year bonding over the nightmares and difficulties of life in the 5th grade, our friendship was truly put to the test in the following years. As A’s family moved down to Florida and my family moved back to Massachusetts we did not live in the same state again until we lived together in Boston when we were both in college. From the ages of 10 to 19 we maintained a friendship based entirely on long distance. This all began in the days long before social media and smart phones, mind you. We simply used the house phone line to stay in touch and would fly to visit each other over school vacations. It didn’t hurt that we were both hopelessly infatuated with Paul Walker and the Fast and the Furious franchise which we could count on to continue to release movies all throughout our friendship (and is still going strong).
I never would have guessed that a girl I went to school with for one year when I was 10 years old, would 19 years later still be my oldest friend. By this point we have seen our relationship through everything, both good and bad, and even if we can’t offer up a comforting hug whenever we feel like, we’ve used our words to provide each other comfort, support, encouragement and motivation over the many years. True friendship is about being there through the tough times as much as it is to be there for the fun times, and it’s important to build relationships in your life where this rings true. Over the years we have changed, and while we have grown separately, we have not grown apart. Even if we go a month without talking we can get back on the phone as if no time has passed.
I value relationships above everything else in my life and put a lot of time into developing bonds with the people closest to me and putting in the effort to make sure we do not grow apart. After college my strongest unit of friends all moved to different cities around the country yet I never feel less connected to them than when I was in college. I look forward to our yearly trips in which we immediately revert back to our college days, with our worries melting away.
I would not be the person I am today without the relationships I have built over the years which have allowed me to grow and learn from. I could not be more grateful to my oldest friend A, with whom I always have the best times, and who has taught me about selflessness, giving, and how to naturally connect with people. We are completely different personalities which allows us to always continue to learn and grow from each other. I cannot ask for anything more from one of the most important relationships in my life and one of my closest people.
Thank you to RocklandTrust for wanting to learn about a meaningful relationship in my life. Their motto is ‘even if they’re not your most important relationship, you are theirs’. You can follow Rockland Trust on Facebook and Instagram.
Alexandria says
This is beautiful. You both are so lucky to have each other and I am sure that A is just as thankful for your strong and beautiful friendship.
Vicky says
: )