"We didn't ever lose each other, we just got separated from the herd and it took the shepard a while to find us."
The above statement, is completely true. It's amazing how you can not talk to a person for two or three months, think about them all the time, wonder about them, not take the pictures down of them, know you might see them, be cordial, but nothing really more, and then have a connection with them you haven't had in a long time.
It was just a simple job. Take her boyfriend up to 7/11 to get some spray butter. He walks out, is yelling in the phone, and slams my new car door. What's wrong? His girlfriend (my long-time best friend) is at her ex-boyfriends house. Now, this isn't just any ex-boyfriend...It's her first love. One she never wanted to see again. This, is a big deal. Shaking my head, I just knew what I had to do. Without question I drove back to the house we were at. He ran inside, grabbed any guy who would go, and told me to stay. Yea, right. I told him I was driving.
Let's take a step back here. Even though I hadn't talked to this girl, I knew what she needed. A.) not to be there, B.) for her boyfriend not to be yelling at her because of it, C.) someone to yell at the people she was with for letting her go there, and D.) Me to get her out of there okay and alive. Yes, that's a little bit cockey of myself...but no one else was right for the job.
She knew something was up when she saw me walk through the door. I motioned for her to come to me, and she did. No questions asked. There wasn't even a look in her eye. I whispered to her "go talk to him". They did. Fifteen minutes and almost one fight later (Yes, I was going to hit a girl. Don't put it past me- she was the one who made short stuff go), they came back. I could tell she wasn't okay even when I asked her. So, a big hug was in order. I could feel her trembling, so I took her outside. Like I said, I know this girl, and she knows me.
We talked for a while, until we were both freezing cold. Turns out, she didn't want to be there. She was uncomfortable, but she was the DD. I told her it didn't matter. If she wanted to leave, then it was time to leave. I told her she needed to learn the rules of being the DD :). I gave her the old spiel I usually give her, and then we went back inside. We rounded up the guys and left.
Her boyfriend was smoking outside, and she started yelling at him. I grabbed her arm and made it clear she had no right to say anything at that moment in time. The thing with this girl is, we could not talk for months, and if one of us was in trouble, or somewhere where she needed rescuing, the other would be there in a heartbeat. And not only that, we could still be frankly honest and yell at the other one if they were being ignorant and wrong, and the other wouldn't take offense to it. She was in no position to say anything to him, and he was in no position to say anything to her, either. I was the ref. Yep, black & white stripes all the way- a yellow card was being held up. We held hands the whole way home, and I even drove her car back to the party with our friends for her.
She and I talked in the car, just covering the basics of the last few months. She had checked up on me, as I did her. However, instead of doing it the old-fashioned way, she just did the smart thing. She read. What did she read? The very thing you're reading now. to tell you the truth, I wouldn't have even thought of it. and that's why I told her she was the smarter one out of the two of us.
The party was broken up by parent's about a half hour after we got back, so we headed over to my house (she had had another opportunity to speak to her boyfriend, and things were getting better between the two of them). We hot-tubbed it for about ten minutes before we got a call saying to go to another house. She went, I stayed. She needed to, I didn't. I got a call five minutes after she left my house. She said, "You want to hear my philosophy?" of course I was intruiged, "We didn't lose each other, we just got separated from the herd and it took the shepard a little while to find us".
"We'll never lose each other." was my response. And now, here I am, writing this, waiting for her to return. Even if she didn't (which I know she will, her blanket & pillow is still here), I'd be okay with it. Because what needed to be done was done tonight.
It's not the same, and it won't be for a while, but we're working on it. It will be, eventually, and I can't wait for that day to come. Whether it be this summer,tomorrow, sometime next year, or even in three years. It'll be a great day. And, I have a feeling, I won't even recognize the day. I'll look back three years after it happens, and laugh about how dumb I was, because I've finally realized we were back to normal...which, for us, really isn't normal at all.
Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget....G. Randolf.
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