FUSION

When you make friends in kindergarten, you usually don't look towards a future together further than recess or the next day of school. And for the most part, the biggest things you share are a love for playtime or the distribution and/or trade of fruit roll-ups and p & b sandwiches. Having friends at 5 years old meant simply having someone at school to color next to; it meant having someone to share toys with. Having friends at such a young age taught me that I could never really be alone.

There are those rare cases, however, when the friends who pulled you across the schoolyard in the yellow plastic wagon when you were 5, are the same friends who stayed up to help you write a paper when you were 16; the ones who pulled your hair back when your 21st birthday taught you the meaning of the word hangover; the same ones who pull you out of heartbreak and despair when you're 27. When you're lucky enough to have friends who have seen you through almost three decades (eeeks!) of the best and worst that life has to offer, how could you ask for more?

You don't. But not asking for something doesn't mean you won't be blessed with it. For not only have I been fortunate to have people in my life who I've found ease and comfort in depending on; people who, over the years, I've developed special relationships that have bordered, if not gone far and way beyond a bloodless familial bond with. I've also been blessed with people who I've only known for a small fraction of a lifetime, yet who I feel like I've known forever!

The best outcome of all these different relationships? The infinite permutation of new friendships when people from every facet of your life get together and forge new bonds. TALK ABOUT SOCIAL NETWORKING! I love that an evening at the movies have gone from 8-10 seats to 16-18 strong. I love that simple birthday dinners require a massive email or evite to accommodate those who roll everywhere as deep as we do.

Yes, there are times that can be chaotic, but then again, who wants calm?