Because of all of my moves, I have friends from the east coast to the west coast, most of which reside in New Jersey, California and Georgia. I am grateful of all of the friends I have made over the years, so I am sharing some stories of how I met just a few of them.

New Jersey

When my mom was pregnant with me, she happened to be in the front yard as another woman walked by. They struck up a conversation about being pregnant (since both were at the time) and found out that their babies were due near the same time in either September or October. Little did they both know that this new found friendship would last numerous years and both of their daughters would become just as great friends. When my friend and I were born, our moms were inseparable and so were we. Thanks to our moms, we now have been friends for over 21 years.

California

When I moved to California I was put into a preschool class with a friend that I didn’t really get to know until about fourth grade. We grew to become very close and while my parents were remodeling a house, I spent every day at her house and practically became another sister. I did my homework and ate almost every meal over there, never failing to raid their pantry for good snacks. They even bought my favorite kind of orange juice! We went on to go to the same elementary school and middle school until I moved at the end of eight grade.

The same friend as I just mentioned, asked me to go to a Christian camp with her at the end of senior year. Being that the camp was on the lake, we wake boarded, tubed and played games all day and worshiped at night. While I was sitting on a bench watching the corn hole game that was going on, one of the guys came up to me and asked if the girls at the camp took showers, because apparently the guys did not. I laughed and told him that I did, but didn’t know about the other girls. Who would have thought that we were going to be such good friends all thanks to one silly question? When I moved to Georgia, he flew to visit me for a week.

Georgia

After my first year at my high school, I had made numerous friends already in my classes and through my mom’s new friends and my track team. When the first day of sophomore year rolled around, I walked into my drawing class and took the first seat that I saw next to a girl who has stayed one of my great friends. Over the two years that we had left there, we had numerous classes together and only became closer. Last December, she visited me at my new home in New Jersey.

New Jersey (the second time)

The first day of school, I walked up to the anatomy room, already dreading that I needed to take that class. I sat down outside until it was time to walk in and began to talk with the girl sitting across from me. Later in the week, we found out that we also had lab together and that we had numerous similarities and we now see each other frequently.

One Friday, a few weeks later, I was given the chance to run with my new team for the first time. I arrived to practice and was told to run with one of the girls since we were both getting back into running. I asked for her number so I would know what was going on with the team or if I needed someone to run with. Since then, we have had numerous adventures.

Now, I have many more friends that I could not fit within the word limit of this story, but that does not mean I love any of you less. I’m thankful for all of the friendships I have made all over, and I miss all of those who I can’t see on a regular basis.