Friendships are a funny thing. They grow, they change, they live and they die. Lately I’ve found myself re-evaluating the people in my life and I find it really interesting to see where I ended up. My friendships can be divided into a few distinct groups.

The Lifers:

The lifers are the ones I’ve known and loved since the early years. One that I’ve known basically since birth (we were born 12 days apart), one since the tender age of five (I fell off her bed, hit my head on a mirror and our friendship was solidified) and one that was my first friend on the first day of first grade. (Got that?)

These women might as well be a part of my DNA, because they make up a huge part of who I am. They are intertwined with my earliest childhood memories and although I don’t get to see them often, they are the true blues, the forevers. 

 The Class:

A) High school

They were there for the awkward years, the first loves, the proms, the cars, the dance recitals, the sleepovers, the movie marathons, the orchestra rehearsals, the SATs, the college acceptance letters, the graduation.

In all honesty, I don’t talk to these friends much anymore. An occasional IM or Facebook message has now replaced the passed notes and daily phone calls. But if I needed them, they’d be there. I know it.

B) College

A different strain of The Class, but the roots are the same. Behind classroom doors and the cinderblock walls of dorm rooms, lifelong friendships were built. The shared feelings of excitement and fear of being away from home bonds people quickly. A drunken night in a hallway, a bond over an awful roommate, a pledge of sisterhood. These moments gave me more than just friends.

These are the ones that know who I am now. That watched my relationship grow from a crush to a future. That helped me through some awful times and joined me in celebration of the best. The ones that held on to each other and sobbed as we stood in an empty house, the memories and stories of the last four years packed into various cars. The ones that joined me in one of the hardest goodbyes I ever had to say.

The Next Steps:

Post-college, two women have become my rocks. Both can actually be crossed referenced with The Class, because we met in college, but the bulk of the bonding has come after graduation. With one, summers on the beach made us close, but it wasn’t until after college that the friendship moved into best-friend territory. She knows my daily activities, my work stories, how many shoes I really buy and how many mojitios is one too many. Her family has become a second family to me and our upcoming Vegas trip is going to be ridiculous.

The other and I bonded over, believe it or not, blogging. This woman, who I was friendly with in school, has become the one I email daily, gossip with over drinks and call for confirmation that I am not a blogging dork. She’s smart and sassy and I am eternally grateful for the events that caused her to stay living down the street from me after she graduated.

And finally,

The New Wave:

It’s been nearly a year since I began blogging, and in that time I have developed relationships with people that are dealing with the exact same things I am. Be it thoughts of an engagement, a shoe obsession or a desire to eat a really giant brownie, these women are there. While many of our relationships are based on comments, there are a few that have become more like confidants. Who know more than just my words. These are the women that read my Gmail away message and ask if my day is going OK. That offer advice for no reason other than to help. Such an awesome group.

If you made it to the end, I’m impressed. My self-reflection on the friendships I keep has made my day take a turn for the better. I really am lucky to have such wonderful friends.