Friends...

Friends are a big deal.  In high school, the people you eat lunch with determined your social status and how many people signed your yearbook. You can't always choose is in your ward, on your team, or on your family tree.  You do choose your friends and I'm not just talking about the ego boosting red tag invites that involve a simple click of "confirm" when a friend request pops up much to your social delight.  I feel like true friends are one of life's greatest blessings.  I remember in Mrs. Glenn's third grade classroom she has a huge poster that said, "A friend is a gift you give yourself."  I remember learning long division and reading that and wondering what the heck it meant.  As I get older in my mortal probation, that 3rd grade poster has deeper meaning than ever before.  Friends, true friends, are gifts.  It doesn't matter where you go in the world because Heavenly Father seems to always have some gift wrapped presents in the form of friends waiting.  Sometimes they are not at all what I would envision for myself or imagine that they are what I need but they are always there.

I feel like I have come to know and love some of planet Earth's greatest crem de la crem human beings.  My deepest and truest friends are my family and being away has only validated that.  I remember getting best friend necklaces with my first best friend in 2nd grade. Her name was Lindsey Anderson.  It was nothing short of a ceremonial event of solemn commitment.  I remember one of the popular girls coming up to me in 5th grade with a piece of loose leaf paper from her hip trapper keeper and pronouncing, "Chelsey, you are my 18th best friend."  The funny part is I remember being so pleased that I was at least in the top 20. Friendship necklaces are now so out.  One of the way to prove that you are real friends with someone is to get a friendship tattoo:

Ha. Just kidding.  I do feel thankful though for friends, deep true friends who love you no matter what and no matter where.  1 of my friends here were not born in my same decade and if we were in high school I doubt we would have a single thing in common, we probably wouldn't have even signed each others yearbooks.  Her name is Elizabeth Zimmerman and she joined the church in April.  She is spitfire southern strong pillar of an outspoken woman with a heavy accent that demands I take off any "brain squeezers" (headbands) from Olivia's head when I bring her to church. She makes me laugh so hard.  I love her so much.

Besides Elizabeth, I also have a friend named April who has a husband in medical school and two children who are bonus items.  We decided to learn how to make eggs benedict one morning and she bought me the perfect egg frying pan.  More on frying eggs to come.  April can make the best friend eggs you've ever had.  Her dad used to make fried eggs at Dee's and passed on the secret of the perfect egg to her and she is now attempting to teach me:

We decided to do pedicures to perfect our summer toes.  We make plans at the beginning of the week and then carry them out; like discovering a giant ice cream shop that looks like what it sells in the middle of nothing. Move over coldstone.

 

 Then there is a woman named JoBeth Davis who is from the salt of the Earth club.  She would give Mother Teresa a run for her money.  If there's anything even close to service, she's on it.  I love her pure heart.  She lives honestly in the middle of nowhere.  I mean nowhere.  Like you in the middle of a random forest 40 miles away from me there is suddenly a house and that is where she lives.  We go walking in the park in the mornings with our strollers and talk about how we want to stop having bread dough for buns.  I love her.

We all need friends.  Otherwise who is going to live in our celestial culdesacs once this life is done? Doy. Think about it.  I love friends.  I miss these friends the most:

 

I love that not just our families, but ALL relationships go one forever according to D&C 130.  One of my favorite feature on the plan of salvation is that when you find the ultimate friend, the friend that is your everything, the friend that loves your love handles, all your weaknesses and makes you whole, that you can seal yourself to them.  Stronger than best friend necklaces, blood brothers, or friend tattoos, and much deeper than facebook confirmation is my friend that I really know is a gift straight from heaven, the best gift I could have ever had, far better and more inspiring and more handsome than I ever hoped for is mine forever.  I love him.