BFF's 4 Ever

The eighteenth blog challenge topic is...

My Best Friend and Why She Is Special...

Best friends are great aren't they?!  I mean they know all about you, all about how you can be stubborn, a little bit bitchy, say & do dumb stuff, and all your quirks...but still they stay.  They stay because they also can be all those things.  Establishing the friendship I have with my best friend is when I realized what a true friend was.  Someone who would always love you...the imperfect you, the confused you, the wrong you...because that is what people are supposed to do.  Best friends love one another with a special strain of love that sometimes still baffles me.  Though I sometimes feel unworthy, I cherish the friendship my best friend and I share because its a constant reminder that certain bonds/love/connections truly endure and can overcome all kinds of obstacles all the while filling us up with happiness, joy, and a sense of belonging.

I met my best friend in 2008 while living in Japan.  Her husband worked in the same office as my ex husband and they were invited over to our house for a BBQ.  Now I'm a little standoffish when meeting new people so I didn't talk with her all that much, but I do remember that she talked non-stop, bubbly is the adjective that comes to mind, and seemed extremely genuine.  I remember she was pregnant at the time so she kept making her husband participate in the drinking games for both of them.  He got hammered and it was hilarious.

I don't know why she did it, considering my our less then friendly meeting, but she kept coming back and pursuing a friendship with me.  So here we are...7 years, 4 kids, 2 PCSes, and 1 divorce later...still in it together.

There is quite an age difference between us which normally wouldn't work, at least on my end.

My attitude 99% of the time

That saying an old soul is kind of dumb but totally applies here.  Not only is she younger, but is pretty much my antithesis in so many ways.  She is outgoing, I am not.  She is warm, friendly, and puts people at ease...I am not, initially.  She's driven, takes no shit, and is always there for those in need.  I think those are things we share, others too, or the friendship wouldn't work...or wouldn't be a healthy/reciprocal type of friendship.  Oh, and did I mention she is German?  Spontaneous outbursts in a foreign language or inserting German in between English sentences, occasional nudity, and other random European type behavior always keeps the friendship on its toes.

She's raising three amazing boys and has a husband that adores her.  She's managed to successfully balance two careers, a home, college, and a social life...and makes it look easy.  I know its the furthest thing from easy, but she always accomplishes what she sets her mind too.

She inspires me and I admire her for the woman she is.  I admire her for the fact she took me for who I am.  She learned to deal with my bullshit because I can be a difficult person sometimes, but she still stuck around.  She accepts my flaws and shortcomings, and that shows me she honestly cares.  She has always been on my side, 100% loyal and protective.  We just connected, only God knows why, and when you truly connect with someone that connection never dies.  Its true that they can buried, ignored, or abandoned but they never are broken.  If you genuinely resonate with someone that bond stays intact despite distance, time, situation, lack of presence, or circumstance.  If its truly real, you'll instantly be swept back up as if you've never been a day without each other.  Real friendships live forever.

This has legitimately happened more than once.