"Golden" Friend

These past few days have been heaven for me. I have reconnected with my oldest and dearest friend! We met when we were 6. We were inseparable for years! We grew up next door to each other and even had a pathway through our backyard lilac bushes to sneak to each others house whenever we wanted! We spent our entire childhood as best friends (with the exception of Gr. 6 - 7 where we each went out and made friendships with others on our own). By Gr. 8, we were back in sync and spent our high school years together again. Unfortunately, after high school, we ended up heading our own separate ways. We weaved in and out of each others lives for a few years, trying to find that friendship we had always had, as well as trying to figure out who we were and where we fit in the world. Those early years of adulthood found us struggling to remain friends. We eventually went our separate ways. Through our twenties we spoke a few times, again, trying to find "that" friendship we had. It didn't seem to work. I always had hope that we would reconnect. She gets me. I must admit, I don't think many people do. I have layers and layers to me that really need to be peeled back to really get to know me. With her, the layers don't exist. She grew up with me, she knows where I came from and both the triumphs and struggles I faced as a kid. I don't have to explain anything to her, because she just knows me. Over the past year, we have reconnected, and this time, it is the right time for us. We are both married, we both have a grasp on who we are and our friendship has blossomed again. We have spent hours on the phone talking about life and the important things. Talking to her, after years of not even knowing where she lived, is like there were no years in between. We are having fun filling in those years, and reminiscing about the past. I spent tonight at her brother's house, talking with the two of them about the "old" days. It was so much fun! My heart feels so much warmth right now. It is overflowing with happiness and that a piece of me is back because she is back in my life. Tomorrow her and I will have time together just on our own, and I am delighted about it! I am thinking of the song my daughter learned in her kindergarten class last fall..."Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold. A circle is round, and has no end, that's how long I want to be your friend." My friend has always been my friend, for as long as I've known what a friend is. Even though there has been years and miles between us, she is my oldest friend and always has been, and always will be. I love that she is back in my life. I have many wonderful friends that have come into my life over the years, but I will always have my one forever friend, she is my "golden" friend.