My Best Friend

I remember it like it was yesterday. My best friend and I, TJ used to always hang out together. We would take walks in the woods, play cars, ride bikes, and sometimes even play hopscotch; things normal kids would do. People thought it was strange to have a boy best friend, but it didn’t matter to me. He was great company on lonely days, and never gossiped about anything. He was the type of friend you could always count on. Little did I know that TJ would soon be gone.

Trying different types of alcohol and drugs, we got ourselves deep into a mess. We couldn't go a day without getting drunk, and it changed everything. We might not still be brothers, but I remember him and the good old days, before all of this started.

With the knowledge I have of my best friend Cole Haverland, I thought I knew him so well because of our long lasting, never ending best friendship. He is an amazing genuinely good friend that will always be there for me when I need him or when he thinks I need him and he showed me that he will forever be my friend and help me in a time of need without thinking.

It's kind of weird how one day you can be so happy that you feel like nothing could ever bring you down, and the next day you feel so depressed that you don't want to come out of your room. That's the way it was for me. One day I was playing basketball and going to youth group, the next I was laying in my room feeling sick.

To speak two different languages is such a powerful trait to have. One of my best friends is bilingual and she amazes me. Her name is Evelyn and I met her four years ago. I was eleven when we first met and she was ten. She lives in Montevideo, Uruguay. I made the long and dreadful trip back there when I was thirteen. It was like a big happy family reunion. I went back again just a month ago, this time being fifteen years old. In an odd way, it feels like we have grown up together. Getting to visit her, her inspiring family, and amazing church has been one of the most encouraging things in my life.

It was a warm, crisp day; with red and yellow leaves scattered down the path. I was alone, which isn't a surprise because I don't have many friends. Leah would have loved this I thought. Leah was a talll, blond haired, blue eyed girl with the brightest smile.Leah just happened to be my best and only true friend. You know what they say, every brunette needs a blonde best friend. Even though I didn't have much I had a loving family and a best friend, what else would I need. Our lives were perfect, until the morning of October 12. October 12, the day he showed up. He was a new kid named Gage. Gage was a junior just like us and had the first class of the day with Leah and I. We gave him a tour of the school and told him the basic new kid story. Ya know, if you need anything, just ask and i'll help, that kinda spill. Everything was normal, then Leah and Gage started hanging out more, just like we use to. As time went on they got closer and me and Leah got farther apart. I would sit with them at lunch, but that was basically it after Gage showed up. I was happy for her, she found someone who loved her for who she was.

June 9, the day my best friend Abby, had gotten her first boyfriend. Don’t get me wrong, at the time I was more than happy for her but little did I know that this would change everything, and I mean everything. I can't pinpoint the exact reason that lead to our friendship ending but it all comes down to the fact that it no longer exists. You would expect me to tell about some big fight that ended our friendship and left us both in tears and regrets, because that how things are supposed to end. No, not ours; Ours ended much differently and for many different reasons.

Time really doesn’t heal; it just blurs things. It will never pull a cover over my best friends face or hide the fact that I hurt him in the worst way. Joseph was a quirky guy with thick, brown, curly hair who wore glasses that were too big for his face. His pants didn't fit him right, he always tucked in his shirts, and he smelled like fresh laundry.

Throughout my seventeen years of living my life there had been major issues that I didn’t think I would be able to get through. Dealing with all the enemies and troubled people I experienced in my lifetime already. One relationship I can say that was difficult and sometimes still is to maintain is my best friend Anna. Usually best friends would be similar, and that is why they are best friends from all the similarities. Anna and I are actually completely different people and that what made us stronger. From her being my opposite helped me to become the person I am today, which is being more wise , enthusiastic, and creative. Sometimes our opposites make us stronger than we were before.

I wanted to fit in like any other teenager and I scoured the school trying to find a person who I could call my best friend. I found that person and he was worth it at the time.We hung out, we shared secrets and he took me to my first football game. We were friends for about 2 years and I knew that he was my best friend. After his breakup with my friend, he told me that he and I were never best friends nor were we friends and that I was just a “mere acquaintance”. He also told me that he was just friends with me because his at the time girlfriend was my friend and now that they weren't dating he didn't have to be an amiable person to me. My first long friendship died and killed me for months.Time passed and I need help so my high school advisor helped me understand that I didn't need him and that he wasn’t worth my heartache and that all I needed was to just get over him and make better friends and enjoy life.

Hey love I just wanted to send you this to tell you how much you mean to me and how blessed I am to have someone like you in my life. I think you deserve the world, yet I don't think you always see that. But I want you to know, I often find my own self wondering what I did to deserve you. I can't thank god enough for placing you in my life. Who would've thought that such a small act would lead to something as magical and fantastic as our friendship. I say this so much but you don't understand how happy I am when it comes to you, I hope you know that I love you no matter what, I will never let you go that’s a promise I will keep forever. You’re that person who if someone had you in their life before then they can't live without you. There's just something about you that's so special and I know i'm not the only one who sees it.

It seemed like within this small group of friends we would hang out together forever. However, everything changed when my brother and I moved into our own place in High School. We developed this independence that most kids our age didn’t get to feel yet. Ryan happened to be the only other guy among our friends of achieving financial independence and leaving home. Once we graduated our class went on their senior trip while my brother, Ryan and I immediately attended PCC EMT certification program. We bonded a little more during that because we were the only three that didn’t go. But things didn’t seem to take the course that we thought that it would.

Gorham, Maine, was a large town, surrounded by boring history from pilgrims and greasy pizzerias that stunk of moldy tomato sauce. I was in 4th grade, and I had a lot of friends. My best friend’s name was Christian, he would do every bad thing you could imagine from cussing out kids on the playground to getting in random fights. I’m not really sure how we became friends, but we did anyway. Even though the area where I grew up was rough. I liked it a lot. I had awesome friends and an awesome neighborhood were I was able to ride my bike everywhere and go down to the pond to catch some frogs. I had my mind set and I didn’t want to move. At the time I played multiple sports, and soccer was my favorite. I loved playing defense, and laying people out when they would come onto my side of the field. I also liked it because I started every game and was never subbed off. Anyway after a long day at school I would take the bus home with my only brother who was always annoying and frustrating because he never liked to try anything new. Like that time when we were at my grandmas house and he wouldn’t even try to eat a piece of salad. God he was frustrating, another time we went skiing and he was afraid of going down the hill. Everyday we entered Ms.Linda’s creeky, bacteria filled bus that was coated in sticky sugar juice from the other kids.

It is remarkable how much a single person can influence another's life. Since November 25, 2001 you have always been by my side and been there when I needed you. To this day you are still my largest role model and I still look up to you.

She’s 5’1”, thin, light brown curly hair, big, gorgeous brown eyes, a cute little button nose, and an unforgettable smile. A laugh that’ll chase away any storm you face. Her skin is golden and perfectly toned. My grandmother, my best friend, and my everything. My world. How devastated I was when she passed. I’ll never forget her.