My Best Friend

When you are very young, your best friend changes from month to month, sometimes even week to week or day to day...lol. By the time you hit your pre-teens, you start to realize what true friendship is and that not everyone claiming to be your friend , actually is! As you start to develop true friendships, there is usually one person that is always there for you and always comes to mind first when you want/need to share something. Some people search a lifetime for a friendship like this...wait isn't that a song?! I have been blessed to have so many wonderful true friends throughout my life and lucky enough to have met my best friend at the early age of 15. I didn't know it then, but that friendship would grow into a fabulous lifelong relationship. It is hard to imagine that my daughter, her god-daughter, will be 15 this year and at the same age that we met. She could be developing a lifetime of friendships as we sit here and read this.

We will be celebrating our 20 year anniversary this year. Through these 19+ years, we have been through the good, the bad and the ugly. We have been through everything from births to deaths and from marriage to divorce and everything in between too. We have cried on each other's shoulders and we have laughed until we cried. I think that the strength of our friendship has even amazed us at times.

I sometimes stop and think of other people and their friendships. I wonder if anyone else is as blessed as I am to have the most wonderful best friend of all time. She is a daughter, a sister, a mother, a wife, an aunt, a godmother, a cousin, a friend and most importantly to me....a best friend. We have so many differences. She is the practical one, I act on impulse. She chooses her words, I speak without thinking. She knew in high school what she wanted to be, I still don't know what I want to be. She is a dog person, I am a cat person....lol. Still, with all these differences, we also have many similarities. We both value family and friends in the highest way. We both love to read, not always the same kind of books. We are both loud (Portuguese vs Puerto Rican...watch out). She loves to sing, I can't carry a tune to save my life. And we both like American Idol, not always the same contestants though. The lists go on and on. The most important thing though is that when we don't agree on something, we respect each other's opinions and decisions. We are there for each other regardless of the outcome...good or bad.

I just wanted to dedicate this post to my best friend because I couldn't imagine my life without you. Through our tragedies, we become stronger and closer. It is the hardest thing for me to be so far away at this difficult time in your life. Although I am here for your each and every day on the phone and on the computer, I wish that I could be there with you, for you. I know that this has not effected our relationship. Our lengthy talks have only drawn us together more. So let me just end this by saying....I love you Dala !