TheUtmostTrouble TheUtmostTrouble

True Friends

It was 2007, the sun was bright and my mom was wiping her tears away readying herself to send her first baby girl off to kindergarten… Alone. She had fitted me in a pink and yellow flowered dress and a matching headband to pull my hair away from my face. My My Little Pony backpack was packed with my Scooby Doo lunchbox and my red folder ready for tackling the day. So I waved goodbye to my tearful mother and boarded the bus, stuffed dog in hand.

Unluckily for me I had learned the day before that I had a crippling intolerance to motion and was sequestered to the front two rows of the bus.

So I arrived at school friendless, with no bus buddies in sight. I am a very loud person. This attribute is something that I formed over time; so 13 years ago, when I had rarely ever interacted with anyone other than my two friends and my mom, my loud personality did not exist. When I walked into the classroom, I found my assigned seat and went to play time still only accompanied by my stuffed dog Sally. By lunch, Sally was still my only friend and I held her ratty paw as I walked outside looking around at all the other kids already paired up with each other.That’s when I saw her, the only other kindergartner that was by themselves sitting eating her lunch.

Hungry, for friendship I decided I would walk over, because if I could talk to the adults at the grocery store I sure as heck could talk to the kids at my school. Hoisting my lunchbox up onto the table I sat down.

“Hi there”

“Hi”

“What’s your name? My name is M.”

“My name is Annie”

“ I don’t have any friends yet, do you?”

“No”

“Would you like to be my friend?”

“Sure”

From that day forward we were inseparable. Annie and I ate lunch together, played together during free-time, and hung out outside of school. We hung out with the other kids, but were pretty inseparable when it came to other activities.

At some point during our friendship, we picked up another girl named Ruby, but none of us remember how we met her back then. Ruby, Annie and I spent every weekend together whether it was all of us or just two. We were a true trifecta of friends that enjoyed each other equally. They made everything fun, and didn’t care about sitting in the back of the bus.

Years went by, birthday parties, bus rides, and sleep overs. We even made our own rap about chicken nuggets featuring Ruby’s beat boxing skills. Then middle school hit. Both Annie and Ruby decided that Oak Hill High school wasn’t for them. They were moving. This was my worst nightmare. The people I had stuck with for so long, leaving, the thought was unbearable. Would they forget about me? One of them is going five hours away, would we grow apart? The next year all of my questions were answered.

For a while we drifted apart, both Annie and Ruby were getting used to their new schools and new friends. Through this drift though, we still celebrated birthdays and had sleepovers when we had time. It was during this period that I figured out that I don’t need to have people by my side every minute of the day. I was fine without them. My new independence suited me. Each year, we grew closer than the last.

Now, during my senior year Ruby and I talk almost every day and hang out whenever we can. Annie talks to me when she isn’t busy doing homework. It’s almost as if they never left at all.

When my friends moved away I assumed we would drift apart. At first, we did, but we came back together and are almost as close as we were when they lived five minutes down the road. My biggest fears never came true, we are best friends and will be for a very long time. That day in kindergarten I never expected to get such a genuine life long friend, let alone two; but I am very grateful that I did, because I don’t know where I would be without them.

My story is similar to the sisterhood of the traveling pants. A group of friends moves away from each other, but stays connected despite the distance. While their story is only for a summer, Annie, Ruby, and I’s story puts us farther apart for much longer. We also don’t have a pair of pants that magically fits all of us, linking us all together in friendship. What we do have are genuine good memories together that will never truly be forgotten. The summer they were apart the “sisterhood” girls expected to grow apart, much like Ruby, Annie’s, and I’s expectation. To their surprise though their time apart made their friendship stronger and more genuine. This unexpected result constituted the same reaction that my friends had even though we don’t all wear the same pants size.

Photo by pepperberryfarm on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

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5 Comments

  • mhall20
    March 30, 2020 at 6:35 pm 

    This is a very touching story and I had those worries about some of my friends too going through school. I couldn’t help but notice I that you chose to leave out the totally amazing, top tier, kick butt play ground that I choose to invade prior to us getting on the bus for our first day of kindergarten. That may have been my favorite memory from that first day, but who’s counting? Great job neighbor 🙂

    • minman20
      May 31, 2020 at 12:20 am 

      You are the one who is counting :). I remember that day too it was so fun, and my swing set was top tier. I chose to leave it out of my post, because sadly you are not a woman and would not have related to the amazing 10/10 would watch again movie. The sisterhood of the travelling pants.

  • abyras20
    April 7, 2020 at 2:23 pm 

    Having a friend that is like a sibling is great. Being able to be close to a person and be able to share everything with them feels good. It makes me happy that you made a friend so easily. I believe it is because of your infectious smile and how you are a positive, bright person. I like when you said “When I walked into the classroom, I found my assigned seat and went to playtime still only accompanied by my stuffed dog Sally” I had a stuffed animal as a friend my first day too.

  • emousseau20
    April 24, 2020 at 12:18 pm 

    This post was a very easy read, which was great! It was written in such a way that it was easy to follow, and a very enjoyable read. I can also relate to this experience because most of my childhood friends that I made were not from my school in Maine but from friends that I met when we went to see our cousins in NY State. When I made friends with them, it was hard to have to live several states away, but like you blog mentions, it made our friendship better and stronger when we did see each other.

  • kwalker20
    May 26, 2020 at 12:21 pm 

    This is such a great story! I love how you describe the connection all three of you have. I had a very similar experience on my first day of kindergarten. I still remember getting on the bus and everything was so much bigger than I was, even my backpack! I hope you guys keep your friendship through adulthood because they sound like the friends you want to keep forever.

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