I have been thinking a lot about friendship. 
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I remember the first time I saw her. I was in 7th grade Mrs. Maughan’s English class. Sheri was the attendance girl, which means she picked up the attendance slip that hour of the day for the front office. A highly coveted gig.
And she had this plum colored jumper that she wore. Name brand and very trendy.
That isn’t all she had going for her.
She was “dating” the enigmatic cross country running stud of the school-- Todd E. The boy that all girls had a crush on at one time or another.
That isn’t her first memory of me though. And I quote:
My first thoughts of you were ones of jealousy and anger. I can’t remember how old we were, maybe 10 or 11. We were both enrolled in the Northern Lights Dance Studio School. I was jealous and mad because you got to be a bumble bee and I had the not so glamorous parts of a carrot and leaf.
Sheri is a Sterling girl who lived 5 miles out of town. I lived about a mile out of town, so naturally my social ranking would require that I should be a bee—a better dance costume for sure. Hello, I lived closer to town (a defining social qualifier….Mr. Fun lived smack in the middle of town, so you can see how it defines our adult future lives now…) You can understand why a Bee of my stature couldn’t be bothered to remember a carrot posing as a leaf, or is it a leaf posing as a carrot?
We became true friends in the 10th grade when we started working on the Homecoming class float together.
We have been best friends for the last 26 years, which is saying a lot when you are only 41 years old.
She has had hair trauma since high school. I haven’t changed my hair since third grade, when my mother chopped it all off. There was that one year at BYU I tried to pull off a terrible looking mullet….
We both have two kids. Both our daughters are first born. We are first borns, too.We are both converts to the LDS church. We joined about a year apart.
We have lived together or by each other at the University. In two different states.
She has hated most of my boyfriends. I wished she could have really dated Ed.
We both worked a night shift together at the town diner. Holy hannah! Some stories there involving the strippers from the local club and some scary head cook named Mary. There was also a bus boy named Rick, who I thought was just doing a great job taking out the trash, but was actually smoking some “kill bud” out back BY the trash.
There have been some awkward moments too. Some naked crouching that she witnessed. There was that once in college that someone jumped though our kitchen window that was open for some fresh air. Our SECOND story kitchen window.
Mr. Fun doesn’t like to play Taboo with Sheri and I as a team because with one word, we can guess each other’s right answers.
For example: Topic: Alcoholic drinks
Sheri: My cousin.
Val: Brandy.
Mr. Fun: How did you know that?
Well, Sheri has a cousin named Brandy.
See what I mean? They didn't stand a chance. :)
We have had a fun little game we have played for years called Loser of the Week. We both feel cursed a good part of the time, so it makes it less painful. My submission this week is that I seized all through church. Sheri’s is that her button popped off her pants the first day of school (she is a teacher). Awk-ward, Mrs. D.
One the greatest days in our friendship is when long distance phone bills came all bundled in the phone bill at one cost, no longer itemized. :) God bless free long distance is all we Alaskans can say.
I cannot count how many times we have said “I am so sorry” to each other in consolation. Broken vehicles, cancer, pregnancy, bad hair days and family.
I was thinking about the scripture from Proverbs 18:24 today, which started all this reminiscing… "a friend who sticketh closer than a brother." My brother is pretty darn great, so I am twice as blessed to have a friend like that as well.
Sheri, with a blog dedication like this, there is no way you are the winner in Loser of the Week this week. :) loving you
