A Story of Friendship

(just a warning: this story became much longer than i expected and probably only makes full sense to the people who are mentioned in it. but it explains my best group of friends and how we came to be that way, and so it means a lot to me. it feels like something i needed to write, and it's probably something that no one needs to read. but of course, it's here if you want to and have a lot of time on your hands! i started out writing this entry with a completely different objective in mind, and instead this is what happened. funny how my writing takes over sometimes.)


It's been a while.

Life has continued to go on, and I can't decide if it's going fast or slow. Fast on the good days, slow on the bad, and that's life. Thankfully, there's been more fast ones than slow ones, I think. With the holiday break, I've had time to see friends home from college and extended family on Christmas. These times are always the highlights of my entire life! I always say that I consider my family members to be friends, and my friends to be parts of the family. I'm so thankful to have them, and I couldn't love them more. It sounds cheesy, but it's true! They have been there through everything, and know that what I need most from them is just for them to be there, and to treat me just as they would anyone else, but to listen when I ask for help. That's a great thing about them too; I feel so comfortable asking them for help when I need it, so that it never seems like pity. It's just friendship.
So it's been tremendous to have my friends home, and already I've seen them multiple times. Mostly we normally just hang out at my house, watching movies, eating, and chatting. We can do this for hours on end. My parents always make fun of us because we're such unusual teenagers, and always have been: we used to spend nights crocheting after one friend taught us how and we decided to make blankets for each other; we went to see the new Disney Princess movie even though we're 19 and 20 years old; we would rather spend an evening together, at one of our houses, than just about anywhere else. We just get each other. Completely. I have never felt so comfortable just being me before I met them. We became such good friends over our high school's Senior Trip to Disneyworld, and it happened so serendipitously that I know that it was meant to be. I would say that it mostly started when I walked into my Photography class on the first day of Senior year and found Zandra sitting there too. We barely knew each other, but it was a small class, and we were relieved to see a face we somewhat knew, and from that day forward we worked together on projects and helped each other out. Sometimes we talked about the upcoming Senior trip because it was a much-anticipated high school tradition, but we never talked about spending it together. We both had other friends. My friend Kristen and I often talked about rooming together during that trip, because Kristen was one of my best friends at the time. I had known her since around 3rd grade, but we were never really close until I was diagnosed with cancer. Seemingly out of nowhere, she started sending me small notes, just to let me know she and her family were thinking about me. It was one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me. She barely knew me, yet she took the time to let me know that she was there for me anyway. When I was able to start school again, we had lockers next to each other because our last names both start with "Be-", and we quickly became good friends. So it seemed natural that we would room together, and we'd eventually find two other people, since the room would hold 4. But we had plenty of time to figure that out. Meanwhile, I spent lunch periods with another best friend, Meghan, whom I had known since 6th grade. We've had lunch periods together since 10th grade, and multiple classes together. In previous years we'd also had lunch with Michelle, who was one of Meghan's best friends since middle school. The three of us all got along really well, although we didn't often see each other outside of school. Another friend of mine that year was Jackie, who I had met the previous year during a trip to the school nurse! Then in 12th grade we were in the same art and English classes - two of my favorites. We were friends during these periods, but then didn't see each other much, and it seemed like she had different friends than I did.
Near the middle of the school year, we received forms to fill out for Senior Trip roommate requests. Kristen came up to me, worriedly, and told me that some of her other friends were looking for a 4th roommate and were really hoping she could fill that position. But that would leave me without any roommate prospects. I was upset, but what could I do? I didn't want to make her say no, because then it might make the situation awkward during the trip. But then who would I room with? Meghan's and Michelle's room was full. I asked a few people but most people had been figuring this out well before the forms showed up and already had their rooms filled. Then I walked into Photography class and explained the situation to Zandra, who at that point I considered to be another good friend but one I only saw during that class period. She said that she only had a room with one other person, Claudia - a girl I had last had a class with in 3rd grade but who I remembered to be very nice. I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to room with them, when I hadn't talked to Claudia in a long time, and only knew Zandra through Photography! Plus there was a 4th spot left to be filled, and it would probably be filled with another person I didn't know well! But at that point I would prefer to room with someone I at least knew a little than someone I didn't know at all, and besides, it wasn't like I'd have to spend the whole time with them if it didn't work out. I just had to share a room with them for a week. So they very kindly let me room with them and then added another girl named Carolyn to the room. Carolyn I knew from 6th and 7th grade, and we were actually good friends in 7th grade, so I was happy with that. I hadn't seen her since 7th grade, but that was really only because I didn't attend school in 8th or 9th grade while I was receiving chemotherapy treatments.
We got that settled, and I realized that Zandra, Claudia, and Jackie all shared a lunch table during the same lunch period I had with Meghan. I began spending some of my lunch period talking with them, and quickly felt assured that this would work out; Claudia was just as friendly and kind as I remembered, and Zandra and I were able to relate outside of Photography class! I also began meeting some of their friends, and I felt comfortable with all of them.
Finally the day of the trip arrived, and I was very excited. I felt good about my room and had lots of friends to spend the week with. Our plane tickets and buses were arranged by rooms, so I was on the same plane and buses as my roommates. When we arrived, we learned that Jackie's room is right next door to ours! With a 12th grade class of more than 400 students, this was quite a coincidence!
The first night goes fine, but we're all so tired from the plane ride that we barely had time to remove our shoes before we fell asleep on the beds. The next morning, we all ate breakfast together, but then they all took off for Epcot. I waited for Kristen, and we headed to Epcot separately. We did run into my roommates and Jackie and Meghan there, though, and joined the group. From that moment on, there was a very large group that had all of us in it, and we all traveled together. It's hard to explain why this trip was such a success, or why we all had such a good time, or why we even all got along so well the entire time. The only explanation I can think of is that it's Disney; it's magical. But from that point on, we were all great friends. We realized how well we worked together, and how much we enjoyed each other's company. There are too many individual stories to tell right now about that week, but it's enough to know that every single minute of every day, we were having a good time. I don't think it would be much of an exaggeration to say that that was the best week of our lives. Even when things didn't go the way we wanted to, we would still laugh and go along with it. I try to remember this every time something happens now that isn't the way I hope it would be.
When this trip ended, it was clear to all of us that we had a great friendship, and we spent the rest of the year cultivating it. Unfortunately I had to spend the last month or two of high school back at home when I had a sudden relapse, but whenever I could, I would go in to get homework assignments and then stop in during lunch to see my friends. We spent the entirety of that summer together. My only wish is that we had become friends much sooner, so that we would have had more summers together before leaving for college. Now it is only 2 summers later, but it feels like I've known them all since we were children. I can't explain it completely, but I know that they will always be a part of my life and that I wouldn't fight as hard against this cancer without them.