Childhood Memories

Do you remember your childhood best friend, the one with whom you spent almost every waking moment? Mine was Malinda. I met her in the 4th grade. We were in the same class and were delighted to find out that we were both LDS (Mormon). This meant we would attend the same ward (congregation). The legend of how we met is that she was singing "I am a child of God" while swinging on the playground and I asked if she were Mormon. I don't really know if that's a true story or just something I created in my mind. In any event, we were immediately friends. We became even closer when my family moved to her neighborhood during my 5th grade year. We then were in walking distance of each other. We would meet each day at this grassy area, which we called "the prairie". It was called this because it reminded us of the area Laura Ingalls runs through on the opening credits of "Little House on the Prairie". As an aside, I love that show. I have the pilot episode and seasons 1-4. OK back on subject- Malinda and I pretty much lived at each others houses from 5th through the 12th grade. We even convinced people that we were sisters. Scroll down and see if you can spot the resemblance. We were as close as sisters and my she was my very BEST friend. Life has happened and we have gone in separate directions. Though I don't speak to her everyday and we can no longer finish each other's sentences, she will always be my BEST friend. I know that I can count on her to be there if I really needed her just as I would be there for her. We were able to hang out last week and I enjoyed every second of it. We reminisced about old times and I felt 10 again. I've missed her and was happy to be able to see her again. Hopefully we won't let too much time go by before seeing each other again.

Today I have a few BEST friends. I love and appreciate each of them. Each friendship is different and precious in its own way, but I'll always treasure my first and longest very BEST friend.

Then...

and now...