Brandy has a summer birthday. I was born in the winter. Brandy is an artist. I like to write. Brandy lives in Kansas City with her fiancé. I'm in the Netherlands taking care of two adorable Dutch children. The list goes on. We couldn't be more different but that is why we're so close. We compliment each other in every way. She is the only person with whom I can spend significant amounts of time without loosing my mind. I mean, we do drive each other crazy at times but even our craziness is complimentary.
Of course, our friendship isn't perfect. After high school we took separate paths. I moved out-of-state for college and she started classes at the Kansas City Art Institute. The last time we saw each other in person was New Years 2007. The years following we slowly stopped talking to each other. We'd forget to return phone calls or just didn't have the time to keep the other updated. We were living completely different lives.
But then I think we grew up enough to realize that we had no real excuse for neglecting such a wonderful connection. When her boyfriend proposed she called me and told me the whole story. I think that was the catalyst for us to reconnect. And then she found an old notebook we used to write in to each other back in high school. She mailed it to me a few days before my graduation. We decided that it was time to get back into the swing of being "us" again. Then, when I arrived in the Netherlands, we started Skyping. With all the changes and challenges in each of our lives, our almost daily conversations have become a saving grace.
One night we spent hours going through poems by our favorite poet, trying to find the perfect line to use as a title for a blog we wanted to create together. The idea came when I complained about having to write and write in our notebook about all sorts of things and that I wouldn't be able to mail it until I returned to the States. I didn't want to wait that long to have her reply. Our blog has been up and running since September. It is the online version of the notebook. We both check it daily to see if the other has posted. Whether it is funny videos, favorite quotes, or long ramblings about all the thoughts floating around in our sometimes joyful, sometimes dark minds. It is keeping us sane and on the same page. However, one of my favorite aspects of the blog is that we use it to share music.
We've collected a lot of theme songs over the years. Now, about every week days we share music with each other. A single song or an entire playlist. It is fantastic to find out that she is in love with a song that I too love just as much. It serves as proof that we're still connected despite everything. Well, the song below came from her but we're both in love with it. It's our theme song now and it is perfect.
Although we've gone through completely different life experiences these past few years (and especially these past few months) it is amazing that we've learned the similar lessons about life, love, and ourselves. The overarching realization has been that home is not a place. It is a feeling. So, even though we're something like 4,493.26 miles apart, whenever we're on Skype it feels like we're sitting right next to each other. Just like the good ol' days where we'd lock ourselves in her room and read Harry Potter for days at a time. Or when we'd sit in my basement for hours taking turns playing The Sims. We could be completely zoned out, multitasking, or talking to someone else but we're still together. And when I'm with her I feel like I'm home.
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