I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Over the past few years I've come to the conclusion that LLM is my best friend. You've heard me reference her on occasion so I should tell you about her. Actually 'best friend' is a woefully inadequate description of her, yet the English language simply doesn't have a better term to describe our relationship that I am aware of.

This fall marks the eleventh year that our lives have intertwined. We've had our love, our fights, our cold wars, our celebrations, our defeats, our confusion, and our shining moments. We've had almost everything in that time. Whenever something good has occurred to one of us, the other is often one of the first to know about it. Whenever something bad has occurred, the other is usually the first to hear about it. Through the failures of school, the joys of new relationships, the birth of a beautiful little girl, the death of family, the finding of new jobs, and so much more we've been together all this time because of our strength in supporting each other. It didn't matter if we were 60 miles or 7 time zones apart.

Sometimes we'll disagree with each other, yet we'll back the other's plan of action. When the eddies of life force one to be lost, the other is the compass that helps guide the wayward soul to where it needs to be. We've been together so long that fractional elements beyond count have interchanged between us. She's moved towards where I was 11 years ago. I've moved towards her stances of that time. For better and for worse we've had tremendous effect on each other's lives.

Try to remember your best friends. Give the person a call if you haven't spoken in some time because of distance. Take that person to lunch sometime for no real reason. If you're lucky enough to be married to your best friend, which adds an ethereal depth to the concept, be sure to gently kiss and hold your best friend sometime.

I love my best friend beyond description. Without her I wouldn't be who I am today. Thank you LLM, thank you for being there when I need you the most. Thank you for being my best friend.