A friend can be defined in exactly six ways by dictionary.com. However, each and every human being has their very own definition of what a friend really is; this means that in actuality, there are about 7.5 billion different definitions of “friend.”
According to the Journal of Experimental Psychology, even babies as young as nine months understand the concept of friendship. With friendship being relevant all throughout our lives, it’s not surprising that friendship has a direct impact on health. According to the work of Dean Ornish, “personal intimacy has a direct effect on our bodies, resulting in stronger immune systems, better cardiovascular functioning and longer life expectancies.” He notes that not having close friends can negatively impact you in ways similar to smoking or carrying extra weight. This study is also confirmed by the famed Nurses' Health Study from Harvard Medical School, where it was also found that the more friends a woman has, the less likely she is to develop aging impairments.
As our bodies go through different experiences, so do our friendships. Researchers revealed that only one in 12 friendships last, and best friends are certainly not people we see the most; on average, best friends see each other once every eight weeks. Many people, including myself, have a particular friend we have known ever since we can remember. These people have impacted our childhoods, adolescent years, young adult years and even adulthood. While, we may not see our childhood best friends all too often, they certainly are important people, who probably don’t get the recognition they deserve, so here’s to them!
In early childhood, our families were great friends; we’d take family vacations together, our moms had the same interests and our dads could talk for hours on end with a beer in hand. The family vacations were always my favorite part; there’s nothing like spending all day on the lake with your best friend. Between the vacations, Girl Scouts, school and dance lessons, we were almost never apart.
During elementary school, it was the end of the world if at the end of the year our report cards didn’t show we would have the same teacher the following year. For twin day, there was no doubt who I’d be twins with, and I always had someone to sit with at lunch. Middle school came and went. Let’s face it, it’s a horrendous time for everyone, but I’m glad you somehow put up with my annoyances and awkward hair phases. During this period, we didn’t go anywhere alone, and switching teams in gym to be together was a common occurrence. However, I’m glad we both discovered the mutual love we had for cross country.
High school allowed us to further bond, especially over pizza and the latest drama. During this period, we both shifted in and out of different friend groups, but we always resorted back to each other. Eventually, we both got jobs and boyfriends and we didn’t spend every weekend together like the good ol’ days, but at least we saw each other at school every day. Senior year came and we went through our last everything together, even walking together at graduation. We’d helped each other through relationship problems, school and sports; we each were a part of the other’s family. Now we’re well over 200 miles apart and don’t see each other for months at a time. Pictures of us crowd my dorm room, we don’t have each other to eat lunch with anymore and family vacations together no longer exist. However, one thing is for certain: A childhood best friend is irreplaceable. Even if we haven’t seen each other in months, when we get together, it’s as if we were never apart. This one’s for you, my childhood best friend. Thank you for everything.
