We have some friends, whom I have known most of my life. I believe I met Jeremy when I was around 6 years old. Jeremy's wife's sister and I went to school together, so I've known her since around the 8th grade-ish. Being friends with someone for almost 30 years is a long time. Jeremy and I have grown up together. We're really good friends. We have been very good friends for a long, long time. Long enough to go through some tough stuff together. Of all of my friends, I cherish my friendship with Jeremy the most. I'm not trying to pick favorites, it's just that it's different with him.
Because we grew up together, we're almost more like brother and sister than friends. We have complete confidence that the other one will be there always. No matter what. Unlike brother and sister, though, we don't have the sibling rivalry stuff :) We can be completely real with each other and bare our souls to each other and know that the other one is a safe place to fall. We can tell each other when we think the other one is screwing up, and know that the other means the best for us :)
While my family was visiting with Jeremy and his family I spent some time thinking on that closeness of our friendship. We are both married and we each have 4 kids. When we get together it's a 12 pack :) 8 kids. That's a lot of kids! Their ages range from 14 years old all the way down to 10 months. Any you know what? The whole time we were together the kids all got along great. I think a lot of that has to do with our similar parenting styles.
Jeremy's wife has a whole lot to do with our friendship too. She's an amazing woman who is open, loving, honest, trusting. She's the kind of mom I want to be. I watch her with the kids and I try to soak it all up to make myself better. I really look up to her. One thing I admire most about Jeremy and Melissa both is that they really have a comfortable relationship with their kids. They are able to be parents, not spoiling their kids, but still have the relationship with them that encourages interaction. That's what I want with my kids. Sometimes I fail at that. I'm so busy trying to get through the tasks of the day that I forget what's most important.
What I want to convey today, I suppose, is the importance of real friendships. People you can be real with. I mean really real. People you can fart in front of, so to speak LOL. It's so important for us, but also for our children. I want to really help my children develop the kind of friendships to last a lifetime like I have.
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