The Odd Couple

 Winter 2009

Fall 2011

Summer 2012
(The night before the Johnson's moved)

Good Best friends are hard to come by. Which is why I am so bummed to see mine move to the other side of the country! I feel like I make friends easily enough. However,  I am super inwardly shy. I have to force myself to talk to people sometimes and I am constantly finding reasons why someone is "cooler" than me or might not want to be my friend. I know it is ridiculous and silly but it is true. I can have some major self confidence issues when it comes to making friends. (I think some of that is scars left over from high school?)

This is why for me it was nice that when I moved out to CT I was almost "forced" into some friendships.  I wasn't really forced, but Mike was already friends with the Stoke and the Johnson's were friends with the Stokes so we were all just friends together. Which was  wonderful because I loved them. But Cynda and I like to think of it as "forced friends." 

There was a small group of us that spent a lot of late weekend nights playing games, watching TV and talking.  We went on weekend trips together, had BBQ's, picnics at the beach and that sort of thing. Then the Moffit's moved, and then the Stokes moved and then it was just Cynda and I left of this group of friends that had been like family to us. 

Of course we made new friends who I love dearly but Cynda and I spent a lot of time together. She got called into Young Women's and for a while she was my advisor and we worked closely together. The girls thought it was weird at first that we were such good friends. They thought we were a pretty "odd couple" and they were right. We are pretty different. Cynda is gentle, softer spoken, kind and tall. I am a little louder (my classroom voice gets the best of me), I have a stronger personality (thank you mother), I come off a little harder to people (but only because I am usually so nervous of what other people are thinking of me while I am talking, I can't calm myself down well enough to be gentle) and I am a good 8 inches shorter than her, which makes taking picture standing up awkward. 

Even though we were an odd couple she still somehow became one of the best friends I have ever had. I could be myself and not worry about what she was thinking of me. I could wear my Pj's, fuzzy socks and baggy t-shirts and she would only make fun of me a little ;-) She listened to all of problems, concerns and fears and gave me awesome advise. She even told me when I was being stupid about things, which I love. We always have a lot to laugh about when we are together, and usually it is ourselves. 

I know we will stay good friends, even with the distance. I also know this isn't the last time I will have such a close friend. But I thought a friendship like this deserved a written place in my personal history. Best Friendships take time. They don't happen over night or even over the course of a year. I know with time I will make more best friends, and I can't wait. Because best friends really are the BEST!