3.6.11

I've Got a Friend in You*

The second installment of the 30 Day Non-Facebook Prose-Instead-of-Pictures Challenge is here.  Before we get to today's topic, there needs to be some clarification about the daily requirements. 

1.A picture of yourself with 10 facts -- Check
2.A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest -- You're reading it
3.A picture of the cast from your favorite show
4.A picture of your favorite night
5.A picture of your favorite memory
6.A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day
7.A picture of your most treasured item
8.A picture that makes you laugh
9.A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most
10.A picture of the person you do the most ****** up things with
11.A picture of something you hate
12.A picture of something you love
13.A picture of your favorite band or artist
14.A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without
15.A picture of something you want to do before you die
16.A picture of someone who inspires you
17.A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently
18.A picture of your biggest insecurity
19.A picture and a letter
20.A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel
21.A picture of something you wish you could forget
22.A picture of something you wish you were better at
23.A picture of your favorite book
24.A picture of something you wish you could change
25.A picture of your favorite day
26.A picture of something that means a lot to you
27.A picture of yourself and a family member
28.A picture of something you're afraid of
29.A picture that can always make you smile
30.A picture of someone you miss

Yesterday's blog contained ten facts.  Today's blog is about the person I've been closest with the longest.  Family members won't count for me.  Too easy.

We met when we both were 14 or 15.  August in the mountains of North Carolina at the Southeastern YMCA Leaders' School.  He was from east Tennessee.  I was from Alabama.  Two southern kids with a passion for physical education and leadership. 

Our friendship was immediate.  For one week every year during high school, we were inseparable.  We took classes together, sat together each night at vespers, hiked to the top of the mountain to watch the sun rise, shared a banana split on my birthday.  (My birthday fell during the week-long Leaders' School every year.)  And hugged and cried and hugged some more at the end of our yearly week together.  It was the most physical platonic relationship anyone has ever had.  He is my T and I am his Red.

During college, he was a varsity cheerleader for an SEC school.  I was the sorority girl at a different SEC school who visited him during spring training.  But things got in the way.  Significant others took up all of our time.  Slowly we began to lose touch.

Until we reconnected on Facebook. 

We rarely comment on each other's status or pictures.  Occasionally we'll email each other.  Recently he was in town for a conference and we had lunch.  It was as if not a day had passed.  The conversation was easy and relaxed.  We kidded each other, talked about our spouses and children, brought each other up to date on life in general.  And reminisced about a photo he took of me our last summer together before graduation.

He caught me off guard early one morning before breakfast.  Seated in an old rocking chair on the porch of the main hall overlooking the mountains, my face bore a look of concentration usually reserved for church services or SATs.  The shutter clicked before his footsteps tore me from my thoughts.  Back in Tennessee, the photo was entered in a contest, unbeknownst to me.  It took first prize.  He later sent me a copy of the picture with a sincere note of gratitude for helping him win the photography contest. 

He's my oldest, dearest, closest guy friend.  Through thick and thin.  I'll always love him.

[*Title taken from this.]

No comments:

Post a Comment