Supper with old friends

Isn't it great to reconnect with old friends? This is me having supper with my friends Lee and Sara a couple of weeks ago.

These ladies are very special to me. Let me tell you why. I met Lee and Sara 25 years ago when I moved here from Manitoba. Wow, that's a long time ago. They were already friends (having gone to school together since Kindergarten) and when I moved to Abbotsford in Grade 5, I ended up at the same school as them. We were in the same class, however, I didn't really hang out with them on a regular basis until Grade 7. When I started at that school in Grade 5, I stupidly aligned myself with the class bully. I had two years of hell hanging out with her (I literally ended up doing community service because of this bully ... ok, I know I make my own decisions and I could've walked away and told her to forget it, but she was scary and had such a hold over me. I was only 10/11 years old!). Anyways, most of the class changed our tunes at the end of Grade 6 and decided we weren't going to take her bullying anymore. She in turn left the school, and Grade 7 was AWESOME! This is when I started hanging out with Lee and Sara.

At the end of Grade 7, Lee and Sara decided to go to Clearbrook Junior (CJ) the next year, and I decided to go to MEI. Although we went to different schools, Lee lived just down the street from me and CJ was also just down the hill, so when I would get home from school I would go find them either at Lee's house or at CJ. I met all of their friends and everyone was very friendly.

For some reason, I again hung out with the wrong crowd at MEI. I don't know why, but I did. Now, when I say "the wrong crowd" I don't mean that they were terrible people or anything. They weren't bullies like the girl in Elementary school had been, but they just weren't the greatest friends for me. When the new girl showed up at school in Grade 9, I was really put on the back burner because this new girl was "cooler" than I was. I don't know about your school, but my school had quite a few cliques, so at this point it's hard to start hanging out with a new group in your school. (Side note: I'm honestly not knocking MEI here. I know this can happen in any school and I also know a lot of people who had great experiences at MEI. This is just my story).

Since CJ was closing, Lee and Sara were now going to be going to Mouat Secondary. I hung out with them all summer between Grade 9 and 10 and these friends from MEI didn't call me once, so I decided to go to Mouat in the fall. Let me tell you, Grade 10 was my best year of school EVER! I did not feel judged by these people one little bit. They knew I went to church and didn't drink, but they didn't care. Everyone was so welcoming and when they asked, "What are you doing here? What day does MEI start?" and I said to them, "I'm not going to MEI. I'm going here," they were genuinely excited and there were high fives all around.

Why am I telling you this, you might ask? I'm not trying to get you to feel sorry for me or to smear any names of girls I used to hang out with (I still see them around town from time to time and we're totally friendly to each other ... being a teenager is hard and I don't have any hard feelings). I'm really telling you this to publicly thank Lee and Sara for being such great friends and for never judging me or thinking I was a nerd for not drinking and for going to church. I know that God put them in my lives for a reason and I'm SO thankful that He did. They made my teenage years so much easier.

We have so many wonderful memories and when we got together a couple of weeks ago, my cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. Unfortunately, it was a "school night" so we couldn't go on all night chatting like we wanted to. I know that Lee and I could recite practically all of Sixteen Candles and Sara and I have great memories of kicking some serious butt together on the basketball court and we had fun doing it. Sure, after High School we lost touch a bit, but every year or so we would contact each other just to say hi and end up getting together. It's always like no time has passed at all and it's never awkward ... and to me, that's a sign of a good friendship.

Facebook has brought us together again, and with it being so easy to post pictures, I can always see how their girls have grown and what they're up to.

I love you, ladies, and I'm truly thankful that you're in my life.