The Gift of a Friend

"Lose one friend, lose all friends, lose yourself." -Eric Matthews Boy Meets World

When I was little the cool thing to do on Friday night was to pile into the living room with your family & watch TGIF on ABC. Shows like Boy Meets World & Sabrina shaped my childhood. A lot of great life lessons were learned by watching BMW..how to be a good sibling & child, why the boys I liked treated me like they did, but most importantly, it taught me some of the greatest lessons on friendship.

The quote above is from one of the last episodes of the show & truer words have never been spoken.

I've been dealing with some friend drama recently, as I think most people do in their lifetime. I made the choice last year to move away from the people who had been there for me when I needed friends the most. I think that I thought in order to forge my own identity I needed to be away from them. I needed to be with people who didn't know every personal detail of my life or all my embarassing moments. So I packed up & left.

I'm telling you, it was the most MISERABLE year of my life. By going away like I did I ended up isolating myself. I had no friends, no family, no one to talk to. That's a lonly life and not one that I was enjoying.

I started getting to know the girls on my floor & the kids in my class but I didn't "fit in" with any of them. The majority of them wanted to live a typical college life full of late nights, alcohol, drugs and I wanted nothing to do with that. It didn't help that my room mate shut me out from day one.

Then I came home. Spending the summer with all my friends made me appriciate having people that knew everything about me. I finally saw it as a gift and not a burden. After talking to mom we decided that maybe it would be best to take some classes at the local community college.

As much as I miss the hustle & bustle of a real college campus, I wouldn't change coming home for anything. My friends have been here for me & I've had a great time getting to know them all over again.

So, my advice, don't take the friends you've had since you were a kid forgranted. Sure, they remember the time in junior high when you dated that total loser, but they were also there when you went through your first major heart break. You guys snuck out together & got in more trouble than you thought possible. They've stood the test of time; don't give up on them. Even if you do, they're still there when you realize you screwed up.
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in other news, it's finals week! can I hear a shout of joy for the semester being over and a groan for having to take finals? Here's to all nighters & strong coffee (hot chocolate for me!) to get us through!! good luck!!

<3 Jen