Thinking of an Old Friend

   Good morning ~ the sun brilliantly looked out from behind some clouds and is illuminating everything its' rays touch. As soon as I woke up I was drawn outside because of the joy the birds were expressing. It is a glorious morning out there ~ better than good :)

  On this glorious morning I woke up from a dream. For years I did not wake up with any memories of dreams. I think because for ten straight years I had very poor and broken up sleep each night. Lately my almost four year old has been sleeping straight through the night and I have been trying to go to bed at 10pm or as close to it as I can make it. This means I have been dreaming again! So I woke up from a vivid dream and in that dream I was on the phone with an old best friend. I have not seen or talked to him for years and years. In hearing his voice in my dream and then waking up I was flooded with memories about this friend and decided to write about him. This will be a jumble of memories with not a lot of order.

  Old best friends ~ I have a few. What journeys did they take with you in life? What paths did they walk with you? Ricky was my best friend I think maybe from age ten into my teens? I am not exactly sure when we became best friends I could have been nine. His family ended up moving onto our property and he was my age. He had a little brother as well and I had four siblings. We were all together as much as we were allowed. We would rush as quickly as we could to wash dishes after dinner at our separate homes, or go to each other's homes to help the other person wash dishes so we could spend those last precious minutes of the day in play. When we were not allowed to play we sat on the log dividing our properties, that neither person was allowed to cross, and talked.

  We lived on a thirteen acre farm on a quiet picturesque road and that farm and road held endless adventure and treasures for us. There was open fields (endless to us), creeks, forest, old cars in the forests riddled with bullet holes and more. He and I had a multitude of animals to look after. I was homeschooled and Ricky's mom decided to homeschool him as well. I remember picking blackberries together in the Summer biking down the road with buckets to the biggest patches; and one time Rick saved me from falling face first into a massive tangle of blackberries by grabbing my braid last minute. We had each other's backs. When I finally went back to school, and Ricky was eventually sent to the same school, I made sure he had friends before he got there.

  When I was ten I got a pony and a little while later Ricky got a massive cart pulling horse. I can't remember exactly what breed she was but her hooves looked like dinner plates. We made quite a pair going on horse rides together. I could beat Ricky in an arm wrestle but he could beat me at horse races every single time. Ricky spent hours helping me clean my horse stall, clean my rabbit stalls, collect eggs, the list was endless. We talked about what we dreamed of being when we were older. He wanted to be a lawyer. He had such a gentle soul and a kind giving heart.

  One day Ricky brought a new born duckling home for me that he had found wandering alone at an auction. He knew that I would treasure it. I did. I remember the first time he saw me wear makeup as we were getting a bit older and he was so shocked. He didn't love the change. I remember him asking me what adolescents was. I was well into it already he was not quite there. I gave a vague answer about voices changing and he was happy. We went to the same church growing up and so sometimes Ricky and I would do duets together at different functions. I remember one time my mike wasn't on as I was singing and so he reached over and quietly clicked it on for me. We were both so nervous but he still had my back in that moment. As kids who lived on the same property we had so much time to spend together. When you grow up you don't get to have friendships like that very often.

  We had to move when I was thirteen to a totally different part of our Province. Ricky and I stayed dear friends into our twenties but slowly as life went on we went our separate ways. One of my last memories of him is going back to my old town with one of my current best friends. We went to my old church and Ricky came there to see me. We both had children they were young and we didn't get to talk much, but he told my friend that we had been best best friends growing up. We had never really labelled it as such. We just were us. When she told me he had said that I burst into tears. Ricky was someone who loved me so sweetly. I am so thankful that he was in my life. I know now that back then I took his kindness to me forgranted. I just assumed every friend was like Ricky was. I was sheltered and the friends I did have were wonders. As time went on I realized the treasure I had in him.

  As I think about him today I hope he is happy. I hope that his children are doing well and that he is satisfied with where he is in life. He was such an amazing best friend.

Did you have a best friend growing up who loved you well? If so you were given a gift. If you did not, maybe YOU were the best friend to someone else. Friends are such gifts at any stage in life. They are the blessers of your soul.

Have a lovely weekend,
Tansy