"One is Silver and the Other's Gold"

Today I ate lunch in my car. This is actually a somewhat common occurrence. I could eat in my office. I could even go downstairs and talk to Zach or Kay or Amanda while I eat. And sometimes I do. But often, I find myself sitting alone in my car. Is it because I am antisocial and try to avoid potentially awkward social situations? Possibly. But I think the main reason is as simple as a need to get out of there for forty-five minutes or however long it takes me to eat. After sitting alone in front of a computer for four hours, I just need out--a change of scenery, a different seat, whatever. And it's a pretty town I live in. Why not enjoy the fresh air and sunlight? It is now too cold to eat on a park bench, Wellsboro does not offer any place to take my food into, and I am too poor to eat out regularly, so my car becomes the next best bet. I park in front of the library or off of the Green, in front of the old school administration building. Sometimes I people watch, but more often I just let my mind wander.

I found myself pondering the topic of friendship today. I have a number of very close friends, and for that I consider myself lucky. I got to thinking however, that there are at least two of those friends who are really just, something extra special. The thing about these friends is that I rarely see them. And yet when we get together again, it's just POW! Things are totally back to normal. It's like we've never been apart a day in our lives. It's really pretty incredible.

Friend One I have known since I was three years old. We grew up together, until I moved out of the state in fifth grade. We haven't lived near each other since then. I often go months or even years without seeing her. We don't keep in constant touch with each other, either. Recently it's been better, because she moved back to the East Coast from Iowa, so it's much easier to see her, even though there are still a good four and a half hours separating us. (She lives forty minutes away from my older brother.)

Friend Two I've only know since eighth grade (nine years). We hit it off shortly after I moved here from Indiana. We were best friends throughout eighth grade and high school. Sometime during our junior year we drifted a little, basically because we were involved in different things. She did cross country and track, I did band and soccer. I spent more time with friends in those activities and vice versa. We were still close, however. She went to college in western Ohio, so I rarely saw her during the last four years of our lives. Occasionally on holidays and over the summer, but not much else. But every time we get together, it's like nothing has changed. We're still close after all these years.

It's very possible that I have this sort of friendship with other people as well, but we've been lucky enough to have not been separated for long periods of time. These two friendships just really stand out. They're the type of people who I can easily see visiting in twenty or thirty years and still having the same closeness, regardless of whether or not we've been geographically close or in constant contact. 

What is it about these two friendships that allows for that kind of relationship? The only other relationships I can think of that are similar are those with my two brothers. But they have the family bond and constant togetherness of fourteen to eighteen years of childhood to back them up. I worry every time I'm going to see these people again that things will have changed, and we won't get along like we used to. But it never happens. Every time I am floored by the way we pick right back up again. It doesn't matter that instead of playing Barbies we're talking about engagements. Something about our friendship runs deeper than that. I only wish I could understand what exactly it is. Any suggestions?