My GAL PAL aka best friend since we were 5, attached at the hip for life soulmate is visiting this week and it’s got me all in a tizzy of excitement!
(this is something she would do)
Everyone loves to write about true love and their romantic partners, but the stories that really get to me in books, movies, tv are about friendship. More importantly, female friendship (sorry boys!!!).
The relationships formed during childhood are the most powerful (wow I am wise) and dare I say, life defining? I met Elaine in kindergarten. She had just moved to Sonoma from Dallas, Texas and something drew us together, spiritually. Or maybe it was our mothers. Laurie and Laura. I’m told they were both rolling their eyes in the back of a teacher-parent meeting and it was basically kismet. Elaine and I did everything together, from playing dress-up, making secret potions out of acorns, trying on my sister’s thongs, burying dead hummingbirds, to making bagels from scratch. All the basics, you get it.
One of our favorite activities was during sleepovers when we would offer to take turns scratching each other’s back in order to fall asleep but Elaine would always trick me into letting her go first so then she was the one who just fell asleep and I was left awake scratching her back. She’s really giving in that way.
We made it through Catholic school together despite constantly getting in trouble for wearing ankle socks (the sex appeal!), we suffered through high school together (Elaine got cooler than me, we forgive her), lost our virginities, got drunk at two proms and eventually had to part ways for college. I remember as a kid truly believing that we would live together and then get married at the same time and have babies at the same time and never ever get separated. Cut to me sobbing at the series finale of PEN15.
Obviously this has not happened. Elaine’s actually engaged! I’m not being weird about it all!! She bought a house too (again I’m totally chill), but I’m still holding out on twin pregnancies and having our children fall in love and eventually marry each other (finally, we’ll be relatives!). Despite our lives changing and living on opposite ends of the country, we’ve never truly been separated. God bless cellular devices and snail mail!
This photo was taken right before we went into my neighbors backyard, picked all of her roses, then ripped the petals off them and tossed them around the lawn because we thought it was decorative.
There’s something so comforting in having a friend that has the same panic attacks as you. So much of my art comes from our relationship. No one will ever want to leave a party with me like Elaine does.
And Elaine has become well aware, that if she doesn’t call me back, I will call everyone she knows to double check that she’s alive (I’m not kidding I have done this).
This is certainly the most sentimental newsletter I’ve written so far but I’m cool with it. I’d be nowhere without my friends. I hope you have at least one great friend. Having more is obviously great, but just one will get you through everything in life.
Thank you for reading! New posts every Friday!
Song stuck in my head: Deep Breath by Riley Downing
Obsessed with: Elaine being here!!!!!!!!
Recently watched: Life & Beth
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Sobbing uncontrollably during Pen15 - RELATE.
I love this!