Friendship is a beautiful thing

I remember my five-year-old self pulling a girl’s curly brown hair. It was storytime and we were all sitting on a rug listening to the teacher read us the story for the day. “Ow,” said the girl with the curly hair. Apparently, I didn’t seem to care that tugging at her hair was bothering her. I just liked how it was so curly and bouncy. Tugging at the hair and then waiting for the hair to bounce back at its original position was so amusing to my five year old self. Little did I know that the girl whose hair I was tugging at was going to be my best friend during my elementary days. We would play on the swing sets, run around, read lots of books, and have a fun childhood friendship. 

One of my most valued friendship was also my cousin. I remember my cousin and I would have sleepovers and even decorate “You are invited to a party” pages from a Bratz coloring book and my sisters and I would have cute parties with her. We would eat junk food, watch movies and have the time of our lives. Who knew that we would even call each other BCFs (best cousin forever) and even go to high school, work together at the same job and end our last year of high school together and later even keep in touch throughout our college days. 

I didn’t know that in my eighth-grade class I would meet one of the closest friends I would have for life. I would soon realise that we would be able to bond and talk about real conversations and things that were going on in our lives and even carry our friendship to high school. We talked about things that were close to our hearts and things that mattered. We were able to motivate each other throughout and I am grateful to have met her.

I remember when I met another close friend in high school. We would have a group of us hang out and do mathletes, scholastic bowl and even have outings. My friend was so hilarious, smart, and an artist. He always knew how to brighten your day. I even remember his funny jokes and how much passion and dedication he put in on his talent of art. We encouraged each other throughout high school and I will forever be grateful.

I remember finally finding my girl squad in college. From repeating funny phrases from movies we watched like, “That’s not no dog, that’s family,” to going to the mall, making up code names and all, it’s nice to know that we can find goofy and beautiful people that will last a lifetime. Friendship is beautiful. 

A beautiful friendship is also found in the Bible. David, a humble and wise servant was friends with the son of Israel’s king. The bible says that Jonathan loved David as his own and instantly developed a friendship. Additionally, when Saul told his son that he wanted to kill David, Jonathan warned him that Saul was trying to kill him and tried to persuade his father not to kill his friend. Even when they had to part ways, the Bible says, “And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself,” (1 Samuel 20:17).

How far will we go for our friends? How far will we go for our family? Friendship is a beautiful thing. We need to be there for each other no matter what. We shouldn’t wait until our friends need us. On the contrary, we should do kind things without being asked. Friendship is a beautiful thing in this place we call life. Embrace yours.