Indeed a Friend In Need

I have always been the person to put the people I care about before myself. If I can help I will do everything I can, even if it affects me in a bad way. Once when I was younger, I even lost a friend because she said I cared too much about people, and I tried to help too much. Were friends now, but girl if you are reading this, know you made me cry in 6th grade. Me being the person I am, and having a family that is very understanding of tough times, has opened my house to many. Throughout high school I’ve tried to help a lot of my friends out in a time of need. Many of my friends have a tough home life, which is one of the reasons I think we got along so well, we had an understanding of what it actually meant to be alone.

Within the four years I have been in highschool, I have had 5 of my friends live with me at one point or another because of various reasons. Problems with mom and dad, not being provided for correctly, going through a tough time mentally, or just because why not. None of them asked if they could move in, it just fell into place. The first friend was fighting with their parents, and in a bad place. We were friends so obviously they stayed over at my house, and after a week of them staying over they broke down, explained things to me about them I never knew. Once they told me I could not ignore it. All of the late night calls that lead to drives to their house to pick them up, hours we spent crying about the past, and all nighters we pulled talking about the future. There is a lot about people that no one knows, everyone faces their own battles. Many of which are hidden behind a smile. Things fell out with me and that person, and after like eight months, they moved out. Looking back, I regret none of it. Though we are not friends now, knowing I was able to help them face the battles they were fighting alone, and knowing that to this day they are still doing good makes me happy. Another person soon came into my life, someone that helped me when I was in a dark place. I have made some stupid decisions in my life, and most of those decisions were mistakes that costed me the friendships with people I cared about. Feeling alone, and fighting my own battles for once put me into a really bad depression. Not many people knew I was depressed, but one person picked up on it. I had known them my whole life, but we weren’t that close anymore. When they picked up on all of my fronts, and saw through all my fake happiness I broke down. We were constantly talking about things we had gone through, things we wished me could change. It was imminent that we would end up living together, we had needed each other. Both of us faced problems at home, fighting battles that only we knew about. Eventually we were living at my house. They had helped me fix my problems with my family, and I was that person they could always count on. Things between us got bad, we both hit our all time low, but because we were there for eachother we built each other backup. They ended up moving out after almost four months, and had a new outlook on life.

We were still friends when they moved out, so when things between me and my parents fell out again, they were the first person to welcome me into their home. Even though it was not easy, they did what they could to make sure I was okay. Yeah, I slept on an air mattress on the floor, but at least I had a safe place to lay my head with a roof over my head every night. I felt so bad asking for rides to work, so they told me not to ask, to just tell them my weekly schedule and they would make sure I made it there. They let me stay there for three months, and though we fell out later on after I moved out, still to this day we both wish the best for each other. I know that because I got a message from that person, they could tell I was going through a tough time a little while ago, and we talked for a bit. They wished me the best in life, and gave me some advice, at the end of the conversation they told me they still cared about me and they wanted to see me do good.

At the end of the day, I do not regret any of it, helping the people I have helped has opened my eyes a lot. It has shown me that people are more complex than most people think, that the happiest person can be facing some of the scariest battles, that just because someone seems like they are perfectly fine, that is not always the case. Everyone faces things they do not want to talk about, and sometimes talking is not what is needed. Sometimes what people need is for someone to just be there for them, to show them they don’t need to face their problems alone. I’ve learned it’s the people that don’t show they need help, that actually need the help most. Having the mindset you can do it alone is a good mindset to have, But we shouldn’t have to face every problem alone. It’s okay to ask for help, and it’s not always the easiest thing to do, but no one should feel alone. Sometimes caring is the biggest help someone needs.

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