Today I had a really neat realization. Something that I had long considered to be an impossibility for me is a reality. When I was in High School, someone was asked "If you were holding the wrist of _________ and the wrist of _______ and could only save one person from falling off a cliff, who would you save?" I thought about that question, and in my self-centered high school way, I thought "Who would pick me in a choice like that? At least over all their other friends?"
That was a bad question to ask.
I thought about it. It's unfair to ask of family, even though I have a cousin who is as close to me as anyone, and a couple others I love a lot. I knew that the girls I was friends with all had a girl who was a closer best friend, and even if they didn't eventually they'd marry someone else. I didn't have a whole ton of friends that were guys. At that point in my life, I came to a strange realization. I had lots of close friends. I knew that in a time of need I could call on many of them. Even if one said no, I always had more friends. That was the realization I had. In the midst of all my friends, I was ultimately kind of alone. Even with many loyal friends, no one truly put me first as a friend.
I was Lord Voldemort.
In my mind, a best friend was someone who would call and tell me when they were dating someone, even if it wasn't very serious. A best friend would be the first person to come visit you after something terrible like having surgery on both your knees.They might even bring you Jones soda.A best friend would move heaven and earth to attend your wedding.A best friend would be someone you trust enough to have to make flirtatious comments about your wife, and not have it be (very) weird. After all, my wife is super hott. A best friend would be someone who would call me just to talk. A best friend would be the person that when anyone says, "Who is Scott's best friend?" the answer would always be the same. A best friend would be so many things that you could make cheesey lists like this forever, and you'd never hit bottom.
And then a funny thing happened today. My best friend called me. I realized today that even though he hasn't always been my best friend, he IS my best friend.
We met in 6th grade. He had hit puberty like 10 years earlier and had a deeper voice then than I have now. He had about a dozen pins sticking out of his leg from a horse crushing his leg. As time went on, he got more sensitive about his hair. We liked several of the same girls. We always played opposite one another in our High School plays (Grandpa Joe with Willie Wonka and The Hero vs. the Villain in our Western Melodrama). We have shared hundreds of inside jokes, we've never been in a fight to speak of. I discovered that he giggles like a 10 year old girl when caught off guard by a tickle. We wrote letters to one another on our LDS missions. I've been there for him through a lot, and he me. And he reaches out to me.
My deep voiced friend? He's truly my best friend. It was a nice realization today.
He is a good kid.
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