Lifers

So all morning I have been thinking about friends. I once heard about this girl who on her way to college told all her high school friends she planned on really jumping into the college life and trying to make new friends. At first when I heard this, my reaction was kind of put off. Really? You have to drop your old friends in order to make new ones? Yeah, okay.  Prick. 

As many of you know, I didn't attend college but went to a one year trade school to become a professional nanny. So when I think about that this girls logic,  I get it to a degree about branching out and blah blah, but how does that fit me?  I have heard on numerous occasions that you make your best friends in college. So again I asked myself, did I miss out on more than just the degree in not going to college? I have gone through moments over the years where I look and think, all my good friends are from high school.. Does that mean I am "living in the past?" Or "will I never get past the good old days because I haven't made new lifelong friends?" Now please understand, I have met some of thee most incredible people since high school that I cherish so very dearly. I am talking more about those lifelong friends who stay in your life through all seasons of good, bad and ugly. So today as I was thinking about my dear friends I saw this weekend when I went home, my mind really dug into who we are today and how far we ve come. And this is where I see a flaw in the girls logic of leaving her past behind. These women I went to high school with are not the same girls they were then. They have all grown and changed over the years and stand here today in the same skin(some of it stretched way out in the belly region! 😃) but not the same mind or soul. I looked at the picture taken below and I no longer see my teammates on the basketball team or classmates in pre calc. I see a group of women in the prime of their lives who are seasoned beings of society. A wife&mother, a teacher, a nurse, a vet student, a caregiver, a dialysis tech. Sticking with these girls and being with them as they grow and make mistakes has been one of the best parts of our friendships. I look at all the friends I have today from high school and just laugh. Some of them I have only become friends with in the last couple years. (It is amazing to me the relationship I have with people I barely spoke to in high school.) Others have known me for my very worst and somehow still talk to me today. What if I hadn't kept them in my life? What if I just let them fade? I don't think I would be the same person without each and every one of them. I believe God places people in your life for seasons and others are "lifers." I have been blessed with such an array of friend across my life living just down the road to all the way in Norway. This is my point, sometimes when you stick with something and maintain it, the results may just be one of life's greatest blessings. Put in the time. It is worth it. To all the people who have put up with all my shenanigans all these years and to those who just jumped on board and get to experience it, here is to you!!