Day Twenty One- Friends

   I was moving soon with my entire family across country. And my seventeen year self was extremely excited. This was an adventure and since I had happily graduated early from high school over a year ago- it was time for something different.
   I had quit my job, helped pack up the house and visited all my favorite places and people one last time. I was nearly ready.
   Except for saying goodbye to my friends. That was the only painful part of my decision to move to a new life.


   My best friends at that time were Sarah and Gwen. They were a year younger than me but we hung out all the time. We did all the typical teenage things; movies, shopping, talking and drooling over boys. We also liked other things that weren't popular with the other teenage girls in our town, such as antique shopping; which Oregon has a ton of different shops to explore; and hanging out in the local college town coffee shop. But perhaps, we weren't as lame as the popular girls thought we were for hanging out at a coffee shop.
   Because it was a coffee shop catering to the local college students. And there was a lot of cute musician college boys that would play their guitars at night for the coffee drinkers. Not only did they have perfectly made coffee, delicious pastries but they had college guys.
   Of course, we were way too shy to talk to any of them. But we certainty liked to giggle over them.

   One day, just a week or so before I was moving, my friends show up in Gwen's clunker of a car. I'm not sure which junk yard she dragged it out of but if she jostled the gear shift rough enough it would eventually pop into drive and it would actually get you to where you were going. The car was a two door, blue and rust color vehicle with more noise than a locomotive.
   It was a sunny summer afternoon when they unexpectedly pull into the driveway.
  "Hey, what are you guys doing?" I asked.
  Sarah grinned smugly. "We have a surprise for you. Your Mom knows about it, so don't worry."
  My friend could be a bit wild so it was natural to wonder if her surprise was Mom approved. Turns out it was, so I got ready and we hurried out to the car.
  "You're sitting in the back." Gwen said, pointing to the small backseat. I hated sitting in the back, it was cramped and had no leg room.
   I frowned and rolled my eyes. "Fine."
   Sarah grinned again. "And we're going to blind fold you."
  "What?" I screeched.
  They were both grinning as Sarah waved the bandanna in the air. "It's a surprise, remember?"
  I shook my head and it took them a few minutes of earnest pleading on their parts to convince me to don the blindfold and then sit in the back of the car. So not only was I stuck in the back, I couldn't see anything. What was I thinking?
   What was my Mom thinking?
  I had great fun with my friends but this was like giving them permission to be as wild and crazy as they wanted. I couldn't believe I had agreed to this.
  The first few minutes were okay. I noticed just how loud the car protested being driven, now that my sense of sight was behind a stupid blindfold. My friends just giggled smugly as we drove. They were enjoying this surprise way too much. Probably because I was always the sane one. The one who didn't want to get into trouble doing something. Maybe not a daredevil, but still they enjoyed my company.
   Now I was trapped helplessly in their hands. Of course, I could have just taken the blindfold off but they kept warning me to keep it on. They had a great surprise for me and they didn't want me to ruin it. Sure, use guilt and my own nature against me. I didn't want to hurt their feelings so I kept the blindfold on.
   Suddenly, the car is spinning round and down a steep hill, making me dizzy and sick. I don't even have time to rip the blindfold off, I'm just holding onto the seat, wondering if I was going to be alive in the next few minutes.
   Sarah is screaming at Gwen to slow down but the car still turns precariously and frantically. I close my eyes under the blindfold, holding my breath.
   "Shut up, Sarah." Gwen screams back. The car does a 180 turn and comes to an abrupt and noisy stop. We are alive. I let go of the seat and reach up to take off the blindfold.
   My friends grab my hands. "You can't do that." Sarah says. "We aren't there yet."
  "You almost killed us."
   They start laughing hysterically. "No, we're fine. Gwen just took the hill a little fast. Keep it on, please."
Sarah doesn't let go my hands until I nod. This surprise had better be good. Since they almost got me killed. I fold my arms and glare at them through the bandanna.
   "Don't be mad at us. You're going to like this." Gwen says softly.
   "I better." I muttered.
 
  A few minutes later, we finally arrive. Where. I'm not sure. I have to climb out of the car with the blindfold on, each friend flanking my side and guiding me. The happy noises of other teenagers fill the open air and we walk across the grass until Sarah whips the bandanna off my eyes with a dramatic flourish and a wide gesture of her arms, encompassing the surprise.
   We're in some one's yard which happens to belong to a nice and fancy house up in the hills surrounding our town. Huge trees adorned the property and a small gully runs across the backyard. It's probably twelve to twenty feet deep and only ten to fifteen feet wide.
  And kids are swinging across it on a rope and plank hung from a beautiful hardwood tree.
  "Surprise." Sarah says. "This is my friend's house." She points to the blond teenager next to us. I smile at her. "And she said I could bring you here to enjoy her backyard as a going away gift."
   Gwen is silently grinning from ear to ear.
   I gulped. The kids were laughing and enjoying themselves but even though the gully wasn't that big it was still big enough to hurt if the rope broke, or went the wrong way or...I was worrying about all the 'what ifs'.
   "Come on." Sarah grabs it when the last kid is finished and holds it while I nervously climb onto the plank of wood. Will it hold?
   I grip the rough, scratchy rope and then she lets go.
   I fly through the air with dizzily speeds, crossing the gap a few times before I slow down enough for someone to grab the rope.
   It was awesome!!!
  We spent the rest of the afternoon taking turns on the rope swing, resting on the grass and talking while we waited. The conversation isn't anything I remember in detail. We spoke of the college plans we had, the boys taking their turns on the rope who were cute, and what things I would miss the most when I moved.
   My friends. Definitely my friends. I said. That part I remember.
   I also remember the fun we had that afternoon, swinging and laughing and talking. It was one of those 'perfect moments.' The ones we don't forget. The moments we carry with us like little treasures because they warm our hearts when we need some warmth from the harshness of life.


   We need friends. And I have some absolutely great friends right now. People that encourage me to be creative with my writing. Thanks neighbor!! And friends that remind me that with even being a busy mom that there is still time for fun.- Grown up and still talking about cute guys fun.- (Sorry hero hottie, but I know what guys talk about so I think us women can discuss sexy movie stars. It's only fair. :)

    Friends are like icing on the cake. And I'm so grateful to have mine.