My First Friend

Erin. We are cousins - our moms are sisters and our dads were actually best friends from high school. She was born four months before me and, along with her sister Chrystin we were pretty much inseperable growing up.

I spent a good chunk of time on Friday afternoon reminiscing about our (almost) 25 years of friendship so that I could prepare my matron of honor toast for her wedding the next day. The memories came flooding back to me...

-the time when we argued over an imaginary friend in the backseat of our aunt's car
-Erin's crankiness with me and Chyrstin for keeping her awake all night talking
-riding our bicycles to the candy store and figuring out the way to get the biggest bang out of $1
-the time she told our moms that I'd insulted her reading abilities - I was completely innocent, but was grounded nonetheless
-the time we picked every single tulip out of the front yard of my parents' house and used them to play "wedding" in the driveway
-taking driver's training together
-skinny dipping (and getting caught by strangers!) in rural Tennessee
-having an all-out kicking/scratching/hair-pulling cat fight on the streets of Disney World
-sharing clothes, secrets, and dating tips
-going to camp together, where she was so homesick that she slept in my sleeping bag with me for comfort
-borrowing Chrystin's car before either of us had our licenses
-I could go on and on (and on)

What an abundance of memories. Incredible. I was thrilled and honored to be her matron of honor yesterday.

Her wedding was beautiful and perfect and I'm so happy for her.