Coming home...sorta

For those that don't know, I lived in Cincinnati from late 1989 to early 1993 ish... I was the first of my large family to move more than an hour from my mother, so it was a big step. I moved to Cincinnati in 1989 in pursuit of a girl (looking back, I really dodged a bullet...a BIG one). At any rate, it was during my stay in the Queen City (I know, irony right??) that I met Colleen. I have two very distinct recollections of that meeting. The first was her insatiable curiosity about dead animals (she had skeletons everywhere) and the second was that she borrowed my car and didn't come back for four hours...when your 20, that's a long time. Well, needless to say, the first meeting was not so wonderful. Fortunately for me, all that changed.

Fast forward 17 years now and I can honestly say that she is the best friend that I have ever had. She has seen me through serious relationships and not so serious relationships, a long drive cross country towing her car with two kittens on the dashboard, I watched her fight with the waiter in Little Italy NY over an egg plant parmesan lunch (remarkably our lunches came out an hour later,in an empty restaurant!), and become so pissed at me in Boston that she would not eat the freshly caught lobster. But through it all, she has been there. When I was sad, she'd drive through the night to sit with me, only to turn around 2 hours later and make the same 4 hour trek back home. Time was never an issue if you I needed a friend.

It is seeing her and spending time with her this weekend that re centers me on what friendship and happiness means. Colleen was there when I literally had nothing (I was fired from a Dunken Donuts) and now that we've both established our lives and we're moving toward old age together, she still looks, talks, and acts the same way as ever...a best friend. I do not get to see her as often as either of us would like, but when we do its so familiar, non-judgemental, unprotected, and unreserved. She is one of these rare people that is sincere in what she says and I know shes my friend...

Finally, I want to say how much I really hate the term "best friend" because it is so singular, it implies that only one can be the best. So, to all of my other "best friends" get your ass home!