Fort Smith - Bringing People Together Since 1982...

Last weekend my best friend of 29 years (we’re 28—THAT’S how long we’ve been friends) came to Dallas. Saturday was Julie’s birthday and the weekend trip was a gift from her sweet boyfriend, Mark.

We had such a wonderful time.

For the most part, Julie and I could not be more different, both inside and out. Growing up we occasionally dressed alike (thank you, 579) but that’s where the resemblance ended--we were never mistaken for sisters. Regardless, people always found it odd when one of us was without the other, hence the expression “Where’s Julie?” and “Where’s Meredith?” on our senior shirts. She was the lead in several high school musicals, I was president of our class. She’s 5’2 with gorgeous curly brown hair, I’m 5’7 with not-so-gorgeous straight blonde hair. She loved singing, I loved math. Shall I go on? I shan’t.

I’m so thankful that many years later we’re still great friends. When you meet at such a young age you don’t really choose your friends, you just become friends because that’s what kids do. You give her the “Be Fri” necklace and keep the “st ends” for yourself. You pierce your ears together. You have sleepovers. You bake heart-shaped cookies for your parents’ anniversary that end up looking like butts and tasting even worse. You sit next to each other in church and write, “I can’t wait till camp!” instead of listening to the sermon. While all are terrific, none require much depth and often the friendship dies for one reason or another. That never happened to us. We grew older and our opinions changed, but we stood by one another. We wore different clothes. We dated different types of guys. We disagreed. We went to different schools and lived in different cities. And our friendship grew.

Seeing Julie and Mark together last weekend will forever be one of my favorite Julie memories. When someone you love finds someone who loves them just as much (dare I say more?), it’s the greatest feeling. I want nothing but the very best for this wonderful friend of mine. And I think she found him.