Some of us are lucky enough to have friends who stay with us for a decade.
They’ve been through the bad, the good, and the awkward. They knew you through your brace face phase as well as your rebellious emo phase (remember that awkward year). Inevitably, we grow up, grow apart, grow together, move to different states, and deal with all the complexities that come with it. If you are lucky enough to have a decade of friendship in your life, these are some of the things you’ve encountered through it all.
1. You know their family as well as you them:
It isn’t out of the ordinary to get the scoop on what’s happening in their parents lives. You’ve been with their family through thick and thin. You watched their older brother eat a worm at age fourteen, but you also watched him get married at age 24. You talked them through their parents divorce and watched their younger siblings go from diapers to high school dances.
It’s gives you a surreal and overly mature feeling to know you’ve been there for all the major events in their life, but it bonds you closer.
2. You’ve been there for their entire dating history, and know them better than their significant other:
After all, who was your partner in crime at age 14 when you had a “sleepover” but really you snuck out of the house to meet a boy from down the block to go for a late night swim? You were there for their long, twisted dating history and you are the person who gets to say, “I told you so,” when it all goes wrong. Having known them for so long, you can see from a distance when it’s all about to go wrong.
3. You are comfortable with silence:
Most parts of your relationship are fairly comfortable, actually. When you’ve been close for so long, you feel no need to fill the gaps with unnecessary chatter. It’s through being so comfortable with each other that you know that awkward silences do not exist. In fact, there aren’t many awkward things that exist between the two of you.
4. You can read them better than they can read themselves:
You understand why they’re being a grump some days and you’ve learned to decipher their indecipherable whining. When they do start to become a grouch, you know that it’s likely because they haven’t eaten all day and they should probably take a nap while they’re at it.
5. You’ve been each others therapists for the past ten years:
You start to recognize the patterns in their behavior more than they recognize it themselves. When they need a good slap in the face because they are whining too much, you are there to give it to them and when they need a great big bear hug, you’re there to give them that too.
You know when they are going down the same road again and you’re there to warn them of an impeding mistake before they make it, even though you know they likely will anyway. You’re ready with the tissues when they do.
6. You grow apart in many ways:
They person you are at age 14 is not the person you are at age 24 and neither are they. As a result, you see the similarities the two of you still have, but you also know you’re differences. You know they aren’t still obsessed with the same punk music as you, so you guys probably don’t talk about that as much, but you also know you can count on them to have a good conversation about your favorite sports team any day of the week.
7. You can always reminisce with them:
Sometimes, over a glass of wine, it’s nice to reflect on where you’ve been, who you’ve known, and how you’ve changed. It’s also funny to talk about everybody you knew who got married, had babies, moved to South America, or dropped off the face of the Earth.
You can always count on them to bring back the nostalgia.
8. They have knowledge about you that few others possess:
Yes, they were there for that time you thought it was a good idea to wear a pink plaid skirt over a pair of jeans. Even worse, they were also there the time you were head over heels for an older boy solely because he had a car, though you forget that he also had repeated senior year…twice. We’ve all made mistakes, unfortunately, this friend knows about all of them.
9. You act like an old married couple:
You aren’t afraid to bicker in public and you remind them to eat their spinach because their system gets backed up if they don’t. You annoy each other and piss each other off, but you’ve never been able to stay bothered for more than an hour because you need their friendship too badly in your life.
10. You go months without talking, but it’s like no time has passed at all.
Inevitably, you will grow up, move away, and have trouble seeing each other frequently. You get caught up in your own life, job, and relationships. However, despite the length of time that has passed since you last spoke, you still always keep them close enough to call up or pay a visit to. When you do see each other, you’re a screaming, laughing mes and it’s like absolutely no time has even passed.
[Featured Image Credit: CiuCiu Photography]