On Friendship

As long as I can remember, we were friends.  I don't ever recall meeting these three girls.  They just were.  And we were friends.  It's just how it was from the beginning.

We grew up together at Buck Creek Baptist Church. Us Four Girls were always together - planning events or the next Backyard Bible Club lesson, starring in the church play or practicing our next black light performance, serving in the community through Acteens or just running around at someone's house for the day.  It was friendship, friendship...just a perfect blend ship.

And then, 18 years later we graduated.  Three of us went off to Georgetown College while one stayed home at Brescia University.  We all began to explore different interests and made new circles of friends.  We still held one another dear in our hearts and saw each other often throughout those four years of growing and learning, but things changed.  We all spread our wings.  Two of us married just after graduation and we all took part in the fun and festivities.  And then we found ourselves in totally different places and stages of life.  There wasn't a time we all came together any longer.  Holidays were spent in other cities.  Family gatherings occurred elsewhere.

Babies were born.  The other two of us were married.  More babies were born.  Then, tragedy struck.  And we found ourselves back in the place where it all began.  It felt right for all of us to be there - together.  That's friendship.  It is malleable and flexible.  It stretches and changes.  And when it spans the years - a lifetime, really - it picks up where it left off.  It remembers.  It heals.  It finds a way.    

Andrea :)