RELATIONSHIPS September 21, 2009 Issue

FRIENDSHIP IS A TWO-WAY STREET

JENNIFER BRIDGES

I MET MY BEST FRIEND, Kiki, when I was just three years old. Our moms had been friends at college and happened to reconnect at a small church in the Dallas metroplex. From that point on we were in each other's lives in Sunday School and many times for the entire weekend. We spent holidays, birthdays, and vacations together—and to this day she is the only person to whom I've given the title "best friend."

We never imagined that could change. How could we ever not be integral parts of each other's daily lives? Then she decided to go to a boarding school, which was quite a distance from Texas. I was a high school, senior and couldn't bear the thought that we'd be spending my last year before college apart. Still, I reasoned that we could often talk on the phone and see each other on school breaks. But I had to learn that friendship is always a two-way street.

Unexpectedly we later found ourselves living across the country from each other, and getting together became an immense challenge. It felt like we'd never live close by again. And as we became immersed in our own separate lives, a gulf seemed to develop between us. Phone calls became less frequent, and years actually went by without our seeing one another.