So, I know that this is a pretty weird title to an article...How can someone be called a friend after you have known them for 20 minutes? Does every friendship need some sacred 20 minute conversation in order to become "a real friend." Or is this an article where I will reveal an awkward 20 minute conversation that I had with a stranger that completely changed my outlook on life?
If you thought any of these questions - you're wrong.
It's distance.
You see, my best friends - the ones that know me best, have known me the longest, and know me better than most anyone else - live 20 Minutes away from me. They have always lived 20 Minutes away from me.
20 Minutes and the drive from my house to theirs has turned into muscle memory.
Hopefully at least, we all have those friends. You know - the ones who have seen you through the worst and best that life has to offer. Who didn't run away when all your scars and insecurities lay bleeding out in a puddle of tears on your Mr. Stuffles elephant from your 8th birthday. The one or ones who didn't let you wallow in those same tears 10+ years later when a Mr. Darcy turned into a Mr. Wickam or even worse a Mr. Collins!!!
Those friends who know you better than you know yourself. Who see through all your "coverups," your "it's fine", "I'll be fine", "let's just drink", or whatever else you think will help you (a) save face and (b) make it go away.
Those friends take away the wine, the beer, the rom-com, the Vogue magazine, the ice cream, and make you face your fears. They make you face your pain. They make you face whatever monster is in your closet so that you can realize how small and insignificant that monster is. They challenge you so that you will finally see what they see - that you are far stronger than the monster in your own head. They prod and pick so that at the end of the day they can hand you the glass of wine and ice cream back, knowing that their friend is going to be okay.
They also know that you will do the same for them, because isn't that what friendship is?
And to my own "20 minute friends" -- you are angels. There are two nameless women in my life (because opposed to our parents wishes and dreams we actually DID grow up - at least a little taller) who have been the best friends a girl could ever have.
What better feeling is there to spend 5+ months apart and come back together to find that absolutely nothing has changed. They have not moved on. They have not forgotten you. They have not replaced you.
And YES we insult each other. We play around and tease and challenge and goof off. But we are the first people to remind each other how beautiful the others are. How precious we are to one another. How great we are for each other. How underrated giggling helplessly at the little things is, and how it makes life a little bit brighter. How I will never get tired of our timeless hand signals and inside jokes even when we're in public places.
I also remind them that a not so serious fight to the death will need to happen because how on earth am I supposed to choose a maid of honor in my future wedding between the two of them?
Happy early birthday ladies,
the Triplet
