UPDATE:
Holy shit, I wrote this five years ago, and so much has changed.
First: Remember Naomi? She’s now a published author, and I have very complicated feelings about that. I am not a published author, and it is something that I would still like to accomplish in my life. (Technically I am a published author because my 100 page thesis is bound and in the library at the university I received my Master’s degree from, but in my head that doesn’t count. For some reason.) I was very bitter about this for a long time, but I have to remind myself that I am self-published. I have written novel-length work and, although I am not paid for the work I have done, I have had more readers and more reviews than she has. What I write is fanfiction, but it is no less valid. I get down sometimes and go back to read the emails I have gotten from readers and think... you know what? I’m fucking awesome.
Naomi’s last birthday party? Harry Potter themed. I feel like I deserve an apology, that I have for years, but it has been just that. Years. She is married, she has a child, she has a publisher. I thought about going to a book signing she had when her book was released, but I didn’t. I have her book on my Amazon wishlist, but I haven’t purchased it. I don’t know if I will. Only time will tell.
Second: Remember Rachel? Soul Mate Rachel? Best Friend Forever Rachel, who understood me and accepted me and supported me? Well, that’s over. It’s been over for about... three years? And it sucks. It fucking sucks. But the pattern described that drove away Naomi and Nicole? Yeah, it happened again. Dump too much stuff on a single person, make them feel responsible for my happiness, and I am prone to finding people who would rather avoid a difficult conversation and ghost me than people who want to confront difficult things in an effort to mend a relationship. So I gave her an ultimatum at the New Year. The New Year seems to be a running theme. After the start of the year I would stop trying to contact her. And I did. I have broken down a couple of times, touched base with her, but not much has changed. I let her know when I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, to let her know that I was working on my mental health and recognized that in many ways I was emotionally abusive. BUT... and this is the key part here... I did not take all the blame in the deterioration of our relationship. It wasn’t my fault, not completely. I damaged a lot of things, that is true, but I wanted to fix them. I feel like I deserve an apology, but I don’t think I will ever really get that. She messaged me recently, asking about updates in my life, but I haven’t responded to it. How to I tell someone about two friends passing away, family drama, illness, the loss of a beloved pet, a move, travelling out of the country, conventions, costumes, birthday parties, Christmases, and every little sadness and happiness that have happened over the past few years? If she wanted to know about my life she would be in it. So I haven’t responded. I don’t know if I will.
You know who is still around? Kendra. She’s got a beautiful daughter but she came to visit me last year and I plan to visit her this year.
Whitney? Check. Sarah? Check. Amber? Double check. I’ve also got so many convention friends, and friends from college (Hey Jenni!) and friends from work who became friends for life (Yo Mary!)I talk to Nicole on occasion, but she has a serious girlfriend and to be completely honest I am jealous and probably will always be. But I am happy for her.
What else is still around? Me. I struggle with mental illness every single day of my life, I have daily suicidal thoughts, but I am still here. I am still going to a psychiatrist, and working on the cocktail of meds that are going to get me functioning. I get up, go to work, come home, cuddle my kittens, and visit family often. I have supportive parents, the best Nanny a person could ask for, and a weird nephew and a silly niece that I love very much. Oh, I love their mom too.
So maybe having a Best Friend isn’t all it’s cracked up to be? Maybe it’s about having a network of friends, some you go to for laughs and some you go to for tears and some for fun and some for heartbreak and some for hockey and some for dancing and some for kissing on National Kiss Day, whatever that is. Maybe it’s about supporting each other, trading worries for worries and recipes for recipes and presents and Galentine’s Day cards.
Maybe it’s telling someone when you don’t have enough spoons to hear their problems, and respecting it when they tell you the same. It’s telling someone when your feelings are hurt and talking through it, because your friendship is more important than hurt feelings. It’s about planning epic vacations for the future with people you want to spend the rest of your life with, platonically.
It’s about matching tattoos, and writing together, and occasionally getting overwhelmed by how lucky you are to have the people in your life that you do have.