Sunday, May 2, 2010

Friendships: Past, Present and Future

My longest friendship has been with a girl I met in kindergarten. Alison and I met and became instant best friends at the age of five.  Going through grade school, we were inseparable, the way that only pre-teen girls can be - not sitting next to each other at lunch would ruin our day, despite the fact that we sat next to each other all day, passing notes to each other, and then went home and called each other at night.  My family moved from Queens to Long Island when I was in sixth grade (worst time ever to move, by the way), and our friendship eased into a long-distance one. Thanks to our parents, Ali and I visited each other when we could, staying in contact while living our teenager & young adult lives.  We never completely lost touch, despite this being before the internet (gasp!) - we actually had to call each other, and we did.  Years later, when Rich and I decided to get married, I wrote Alison an email letting her know, and was thrilled to hear back that she, too, was getting married soon.  The girls who met as five year olds attended each other's weddings, then celebrated each other's pregnancies and firstborns.  Today is Alison's birthday, and I hope she had a wonderful day with her family.


                   Happy Birthday, My Forever Friend!


Thinking of Alison today while spending the day with Luke made me realize that, someday, he will come home and tell me something involving his "best friend".  Luke and I say now that we are each other's best friend, and there's a truth to that, but I know that soon he will have someone else he spends his day with. Instead of playing in the sprinkler with me or asking me to push him on the swing, he'll be calling out his best friend's name to take my place. I hope and pray friendships will come easily for him.  But a corner of my Mother-Heart weeps at the thought of being replaced as the central "friend" in Luke's life.  I never asked my Mom how she felt when I wanted to spend every second with Alison.  I wonder if she felt hurt at all (Sorry, Moobie!). Now in my mother's place, I hope not to, but I think I might. I hope, though, that when Luke finds that best friend, that person is as special to Luke as Alison is to me.  I plan on supporting and helping any way I can so that Luke is able to sustain this future friendship the way Ali and I have held onto ours.


Who WOULDN'T want to be friends with this kiddo? 


xoxo,

Momma Lioness Michele


5 comments:

Bridget said...

My kids say that they are best friends. I hope it stays that way forever, too...

Momma Lioness Michele said...

That is so sweet! Siblings have a special bond, no doubt about that. Thanks for reading, and hugs to those cuties of yours!

Anonymous said...

Aw, sweet post. Two of my closest friends I've known my entire life (literally!). Those friendships are priceless.

Joseph said...

You'll always be his BFF :) Great post.

Alethea Fitzpatrick said...

Awww, what a beautiful post!