Dear Lil B,
I vividly remember the first day I met you. It was the first day of middle school, and we were 11 and I was super positive that I wasn't going to make any friends. I was tall, chubby and kind of awkward; basically I was the type of person I didn't think anyone would want to be friends with. Everyone in school belonged to their own clique, and everyone had the latest fashion trends and a ton of friends and hung out with them after school. And then there was me. But you came and changed everything. You went from being just some curly haired brunette who sat near me in homeroom, to being the girl who ironically shared a locker next to mine (Granted, it was alphabetized, but I didn't even know what your name). I went from being absolutely friendless to having one friend, and I really don't think you will ever understand how much that meant to me back then.
I remember what jumpstarted our friendship, too. I was sitting at home one day in the summer, like what I usually do, because wasn't able to see my only friend. But one day, the phone rang, and it was you asking me to come over for your birthday party. I think that was our first real bonding moment. It's all kind of a big cluster of blurred history from there. I remember little parts in between, like watching "The Pregnancy Pact" at your house on a school night (we thought we were so cool), and going out for Halloween one year and me giving you half my sandwich & a cup of soup when you forgot yours at home. I even remember the rest of your birthday parties. There are the memories I'm going to tell our kids about when we're older (and of course, hype myself up and make myself look like the cooler one).
But I guess really what I'm trying to say is, thank you.
Thank you for teaching me that no matter how different two people are, the friendship they have can be more unbreakable than people who are the same. Thank you for sticking by my side even when I make stupid choices, and thank you even more for being there when they come back to bite me in the *you-know-where*. Thank you for going dragging me places because you don't want to go alone, because now I have an excuse to take you everywhere. Thank you for always being by my side and defending me even though I don't ask for it. And thank you for always coming to my rescue when I need you to. And for that one time I was sick and contagious and you came and fed me soup. These are things you didn't have to do, but chose to do anyway.
(When I dragged her to Washington DC with me, can't you tell she's excited?)
My grandma always told me, "You don't need a lot of friends, because one true friend means a lot more than ten fake ones. Make wise choices." And she was right. And lucky for me that one person ended up being you.
Love much,
Big Bee
P.S. Don't hate me for the bad pictures.
(Don't worry, we glo'd up real good.)
