That thing about friendship

There's something inexplicable about every aspect of a meaningful friendship. If you can explain the relationship you have with your best friend without any difficulty, and clarify exactly what 'reasons' you have for being their best friend, I would highly doubt that you are in fact their best friend. But then again, that's only my opinion. Perhaps some best-friend relationships aren't difficult to decipher. Though most are.

From my experience, however, I have come to realise that best friends are either freakishly alike, or so opposite from each other that one wonders how they manage to be friends at all. It is this quality of random mix-and-match which makes best friends different from siblings, lovers, and all other kinds of amicable human relationships. Sometimes best friends have little in common with each other, apart from the lifetime of memories they share. That's kind of how I feel about my best friend.

I was four years old when I first saw her. The most we had in common at the time was the fact that we were both as tall as the couch. (Today, we don't even have this in common!) When I first met her I was convinced she was a boy. She had short hair and was wearing shorts. So she had to be a boy. Given the puffiness of my head of curly hair, I'm quite sure she thought I was some kind of strange candy floss with arms and legs and the ability to talk. But it took us less than ten minutes to figure out the truth about each other; she was certainly not a boy and I was most definitely inedible. These discoveries were to mark a whole new chapter in our lives. The beginning of a story full of chewing-gum-pulling competitions, games of truth-or-dare, house-house, matching t-shirts, the invention of various things, shared crushes, cat fights, borrowed shoes, stolen make-up and frequent sleepovers.

What a journey it's been. A journey of almost twenty years and still running! Yet I can't seem to figure out exactly what makes us so close. We don't share the same interests, watch the same movies, listen to the same music or even look alike in any way. But the truth is, every time I look back at my life, all the crazy childhood escapades I've lived through, I can't help but remember her. She is an integral part of who I am and an unforgettable contribution to my life story. I may be insecure about a lot of things, but I'm absolutely secure in our friendship.

In a way I guess we're kind of like Johnny Depp and Marilyn Manson, the infamous 'Best Friends Forever' (if only slightly less frightening to look at as a pair). It is rumoured that they are so close that Johnny was even willing to back down from his role as Willy Wonka if Marilyn wanted it more! Isn't that just precious? There is many a beautiful story in the great book of best-friendships. You don't have to be me, or Marilyn Manson in order to know what it's like to have a friend who cares for you no matter what. You can have that by just being you.