Friendships Are a Funny Thing.

I have a couple of best friends, a handful close friends, a gaggle of friends and loads of acquaintances. I think that's how most of us roll, right?

I had best friends in elementary school that I really wish had made it the long haul to adulthood.  Some lasted longer than others (and I lived with a couple of my childhood besties my first year of college), but we ultimately grew up and grew apart.  Some of my childhood friendships faded due to attending different middle and/or high schools, some faded due to the following of different high school cliques, and some faded due to fights, fibs and other dumb reasons (we grew apart due to our immaturities at the time).  Therefore, I think ALL of my childhood friendships ended up in the "acquaintance" category.  And it's really too bad, because I had some awesome friends back then.

Another group of friends that have ended up in the "acquaintance" category over the years is work friends.  It is so disheartening to feel like you have all these awesome, close friends.....only to change jobs and suddenly they disappear (or maybe they felt YOU disappeared).  Nothing ever HAPPENED...there were no fights or ill feelings or anything at all.....but the mere fact that you don't work together anymore changed the ENTIRE dynamic of the friendship.  This has been true everywhere I've worked, whether it's been an office job or a serving job or another job.  Now I HAVE noticed (via Facebook) that some of these work relationships have actually worked out between old coworkers (turning them into close friends or even besties), even though the friends don't work together anymore.  And that's awesome.  There are a couple of old work friends I would consider close friends today, but only a few.

I found this image while Googling "work friends".  They're right.....I was never coming back!

The other biggest "acquaintance" category, thanks to social media, has been people I went to high school with.  These friends come out of the woodwork.  Some of these friends I really like a lot and wonder why we never made more of a friend effort back in the day (or I know why we didn't and think it's a darn shame).  Some of these friends have changed over the years...some in a GOOD way (no longer the jerk they used to be) and some in a BAD way (being a grownup hasn't "taken" so well).  Some haven't changed at all (they do realize they're not in high school anymore, right? Right??).  And some I'm still trying to figure out who the hell they are. 

Other friends become acquaintances when my relationship status changed.  And not necessarily because they were HIS friend first (any of the "hises" from my past).  Just because some friends were my friend because I was in THAT relationship and it conveniently worked into their lifestyle as well as mine.

Then there are my friends, which is a MUCH smaller group than my acquaintances.  "Friend" is a vague category that can teeter either more towards the end of "acquaintance" or more towards the end of "close friend."  These are the people I don't see very often, but when I do on the rare occasion, it's a great time.  For me, I feel like a friend isn't somebody you just know and like, it's somebody you want to keep in your life.  You like them at least that much.  :)

Love this.

Next are the "close friends", which is an even smaller group than "friends".  Some of them I see regularly, and some I see only here and there.  But I would never not include any of them for milestones in my life, and they are ALWAYS welcome to blow up my phone or invade my day anytime ever.  They have remained my friends through thick and thin, no matter my job, my relationship or my bad/stupid actions/decisions over the years.  Close friends WIN.

Ahh.....and now my best friends.  Some people have one....I have three.  There's my fantastic boyfriend (and father of my child), my best friend from high school and my best friend from college.  There isn't any need to describe a best friend.  We all know what it means to be a true best friend. 

**The dog picture above is a SWEET story.  You can read about those two here.

The funny thing about friendship is, why can't we have it the other way around?  Why have only one (or three) best friends, which is the BESTEST kind of friend, and yet loads of acquaintances who may or may not matter?  Why not have more really close buds than just basic friends in general?

Seems backwards when you think about it.  I think the world would be a happier place if things happened the other way around!