My besties: Blondie and Vino

I got an email a few days ago from one of my best friends Vino (also sent to Blondie, our other best friend) giving us a quick update on what is going on with her (most notably she passed her comps and now has her M.Ed. in Special Education -- rock on girl!) and also telling us how thankful she is that we are friends and don't have drama. I guess her group of friends in Vegas are playing games and it's driving her crazy.

And that got me thinking about just how much I value our friendship and how lucky I am to have these two women in my life. But first, some background...

Waaaay back in college, sophomore year, I started dating an older guy who I thought was just dreamy. Long story short, I stopped hanging out with my friends (including Vino and Blondie) so I could spend more time with him (he didn't particularly care for my friends -- what an ass), spent almost all my time at his apartment and generally fell off the face of the planet for just over a year. And then as my jr. year was coming to a close, he somewhat suddenly broke it off. And my world damn near fell apart.

Many of the other girls in sorority house were not terribly forgiving. They had resented the fact the I basically disappeared for many months (rightfully so, I mean, it definitely wasn't one of my finer moments) and were rather cold about the whole situation. But not Vino and Blondie. In fact, they went out of their way to be there for me whenever I needed them. We were all living in a sublet apt that summer along with a couple of other girls and the support I got from them was something that I can't adequately describe. There were always there when I needed to talk or to just get out of the house to get my mind off things. That summer I grew quite close to both of them and by the time we started school in the fall, I was ready to get back into the house and try to catch up on everything I had unfortunately missed for the past year. Without them, I don't know what I would have done.

Shortly after the start of the school year, I met Jim. After going on several dates (even though I had claimed that I was not ready for a boyfriend quite that quickly), Vino, Blondie and I were out and about and Blondie turned to me and said "You know, we like Jim. We don't mind you dating him. But if you disappear again, we will come and find you because we know where he lives!" To which we all started laughing. But they were right. And really, how could I do that again, when I would be missing out on so many fun times with them? [In a happy coincidence, Jim really liked Blondie & Vino and was more than happy to hang out with them and their boyfriends, accompany me on sorority events and just generally be a regular part of my life without making me choose one over the other. See, there are many reasons why he is a keeper.]

While my last year in college had its ups and downs, one of the things I most remember is how much fun I had with Blondie and Vino. Sure, I could go into detail about all of our crazy adventures, but it wouldn't capture just how much it meant to me to have such good friends that would welcome me back with open arms after being such an idiot about the friendship for such a long time.

After college, we all went our separate ways in terms of physical location, but haven't lost touch with each other. And when we talk and hang out, it's like it was back in college. We still do an annual girls-only weekend where we go somewhere to just hang out, talk, drink wine, eat and pretend like we're those crazy girls we were in college. Two of us are old married hags now with the third to join the ranks very soon. And yet, while everything has changed, it has also completely stayed the same.

Many people say that a group of 3 just doesn't work. And yet, for us, it does. I am so lucky to have found such wonderful friends and I know that we'll still be hanging out and being silly with each other for many many years. So, if you two are reading this, know that I love you both and am so happy that I can call you besties.