I got an e-mail earlier this week that kind of threw me for a loop. It was from someone that I haven't spoken to in over 11 years. Someone who was once my best friend, all through junior high and high school we were inseparable. Coloring each others hair in my bathroom, marble counter tops clean up pretty well but I seem to remember a few holy shit I got red hair color on the counter moments. I also remember not asking our parents first but that is beside the point (sorry mom). Seeing Nada Surf somewhere in Riverside while sitting on a pool table and almost knocking a beer sponsored light from the ceiling, I was clumsy talented even then what can I say. Ditching school and going to the water park in Palm Springs. With my mom. Ha! So, we were lame ditchers. Or maybe smart ditchers. Dudes, her dad introduced me to Nutella, that alone should offer her family up for sainthood.
Somehow, during the summer after graduation, also the summer Tim and I got married, we lost touch. Now that isn't exactly right. We didn't lose touch. I was wrapped up in getting married at 18 (go ahead, say it with me... holy hell, what was she thinking? Eh, it works for us.) and her life kept moving. Things kept going on around me and I didn't notice. We didn't drift apart, we lost each other. I thought everything was fine until she wasn't at my wedding. But neither of us picked up the phone. We were both too hurt.
I have often wondered about her over the years and there are a couple of things that make me think of her. Looking back over 11 years my reasons for being hurt seem so petty. Looking back over 11 years I have realized how much I missed her.
