A Friendship As Old As A T-Shirt (and just as comfy!)

                      


Yes. This is me. On the left, I had just bought my first camp shirt, on Sunday, July 19, 1992. That’s right my friends, exactly twenty years ago. And I can still wear it! In fact, I’m wearing it today! The photo on the right was taken this morning, on Thursday, July 19, 2012. LOL

While it wouldn’t be at all unusual or uninteresting for me to write an entire blog post devoted to this one t-shirt….that’s not what this is about. That’s just a bonus! (Although I will say that at first it was like a dress on me; for a few years it was a tad small and I didn’t wear it in public; and now it fits great, just a little baggy)

Today I would like to tell you about a special friendship of mine; it’s as old as this t-shirt, and getting stronger all the time. I make up one half of it, and Crystal makes up the other! I met her the same day I bought that shirt; in fact, I was probably wearing it. I wore it a lot that week….with that stupid Odyssey of the Mind hat!

Anyway, back to Crystal. As you might imagine, a LOT has changed in both of our lives since that day. We both graduated from high school, have had dozens of jobs between us, lived in different places (I moved a total of 18 times just in the past 13 years!), and had many friends come and go.

If you read the post “My Wellness Journey,” then you know I was stuck in a deep well when we met. Crystal saw something in me that I couldn’t see in myself, and she spent a great deal of time and energy over the next two decades trying to help me see it, too. Last year, when I finally told her I had Asperger’s, she read about it online to help her understand me better. We’ve also had several conversations about my little quirks and how to adjust to them [smile].

I’m still not an easy person to be around, especially when I stay the night. I can only handle so much time away from my routine and familiar surroundings, and being alone most of the time makes it difficult to be around people for more than a few hours. Yet she has brought to our friendship a great deal of patience and understanding. As individuals, we have become stronger, more confident versions of ourselves….and as friends, we have become sisters.



This is her with Wyatt a few years ago, who has since passed on (I affectionately called him Beast because he was HUGE). That was his Halloween costume. She is among my favorite blessings, a gift from God, and I look forward to the next twenty years of being her friend!