Friends are one of the greatest treasures in life. I am very blessed to have some of the best friends in the whole wide world (no bias involved, of course). Of course, friends come and go, but there are always the best friends. The ones who have been around for years, who will stand by you on your wedding day, the ones who will sit in the rocking chairs in front of Cracker Barrel with you when you’re ninety. I have a few of those, and I am oh so lucky.
I would like to discuss our friendships in terms of a bag of Skittles. Bear with me.
My best friends are very different people. They have different interests, different personalities, and different views on life. One of my best friends eats the green and yellow Skittles, leaves the red and purple for me, and we split the orange. Another friend fights me for the last purple one while we let the green and yellow sit forgotten in the bottom of the bag. Another friend still will eat whatever ends up in her hand. My relationship with each one of them is very different, but important to me just the same. And as strange as it sounds, they mirror, to an odd extent, how we share a bag of Skittles.
Sometimes I need a person to show me the opposite view point, or broaden my own with a different perspective. A yin to my yang, if you will. She lets me have the purple and red in life, ceaselessly tells me the green and yellow are just as great, and we evenly split the orange and share. She doesn’t really like country music, and I don’t share her love for pink and sparkles, but we can sit and watch stand-up comedy for hours together. She lets me have my views, shows me hers, and we share some of the best things in life. We are by no means the same person, but that’s what makes our friendship so great.
Sometimes, I need a person who sees the world exactly (or almost exactly) as I do. Sure, she may fight me for the red and purple Skittles, but it is so nice to discuss life with someone who feels the same about it as I do. Whether it be a love for Jesus things, an obsession with country concerts, or a willingness to watch HGTV all night on a Friday, she shares my heart and soul.
Other times still, I need a person who is up for anything. She will eat any Skittle that falls into her hand. She inspires me to be spontaneous and step outside of my comfort zone. She is wild and carefree in the absolute best of ways. Simply put, she makes my life fun. We have always had the best of times together, from riding bikes down (now that I look back on it) deathly steep hills, to dancing in the rain at neighborhood block parties, to laughing hysterically while watching SNL clips on YouTube. She makes my smile and laugh.
I cannot thank these great friends enough for being my friends. They have been there for it all and through it all. I cannot wait to sit in front of Cracker Barrel at age ninety and quote stand-up, sing country songs, and watch Seth Meyers do “Weekend Update” on whatever fancy technology we have by then with you all. Thanks for sharing life (and Skittles) with me.
Alphabet Soup 