Best Friend 'til the End!

June 2000 was the first month that I met one of the people that would soon become my very best friend. At this point I am 6-years-old and moving into a new house with my family and know no one. Our house was the first one on the back end of our street but there were houses behind it. Little did I know that my best friend would be literally in my backyard. His name was Bradley. He was only 2 at the time but our parents soon became very close and so did we. Wherever I was, there was Bradley and wherever Bradley was, there I was. He and I would spend almost everyday playing together going between each other's houses, being kids and playing like kids did before technology took over our lives. My dad wanted to get a dog but the rule my mom had was that he could only do it if he put up a fence. To a kid, this fence meant that getting to my friend would become a little harder. It wasn't until the very last day that my dad was putting up the fence that he had a surprise for Bradley and I. A gate. Now you may be thinking, "Oh wow a gate, big whoop," but to a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old it was a very big deal. This gate was put in especially for us, able to be opened from both sides so that we could get to each other. Boy did we use it! He would come knock on my window every morning even before anyone in either house was awake, just because he wanted to play and we didn't want to wait for our parents to wake up. The beauty of the gate. Fast forward a year and our worlds were turned upside down. One morning, something was different. I didn't get the little taps at my window. My best friend didn't come to get me to go play. I was confused. Something was wrong. I went to my parents' room and woke up my dad. I told him Bradley didn't come to my window. His reasoning with me was that maybe he was sleeping in, or his parents took him on a trip somewhere. Well it wasn't until later in the day we got the news. My parents sat me down and tried the best that they could to explain something so terrible to a then 7-year-old.

His mom died.

I didn't know what that meant, I didn't understand. I knew something was wrong, though, because my mother was crying. All I wanted was to go to my best friend's house and see him. I wanted to be there for my best friend even though I had no idea was was going on. Days passed, weeks passed, we started hanging out again everyday, but you could tell everyone was still upset. It wasn't until then that I understood what my parents were trying to tell me. His mom, the mom that watched us play together and be happy together for a little over a year, was no longer there. It was just Bradley and his dad. As time went on, his dad moved on and found someone that would mend his and Bradley's broken hearts. She soon became part of our morning ritual. At first she was hesitant at letting him come over like he was every morning but she started to understand and see how happy we were spending time together. She would hear the backdoor open and she knew it was time to wake up and get the day started with her morning coffee and toast or waffles for Bradley and I. Our families would spend so much time together having pool parties at my house and backyard BBQs at his house. His dad and new wife looked at me as if I was their daughter as my parents treated Bradley as if he was their son. After all, he was an only child and all I had were sisters.

A couple years went by and his parents decided it was time to get a bigger house. Of course, my parents helped move them in and Bradley and I would run around the house while they did all the hard work. It wasn't until then I realized that I was losing my best friend again. We wouldn't have our morning play-dates that turned into all-day play-dates. Of course his parents said that I could come over whenever I wanted. Soon after, unfortunately, my parents stopped going over and when I asked to go hang out with Bradley, the, "yeah sure, I'll bring you" turned into "maybe not today I'm too tired to drive." Then finally my mother came out with the truth. She decided to tell me that she wanted to give them space. She wanted to let them get on with their lives and she felt like we were just bringing up the past, the past with Bradley's mom. I was so upset. At the time, I thought she was telling me that they didn't want me around anymore. So, I just accepted it—yes, I was beyond heart broken because I no longer had my best friend to play with and tell stories to.

January 22, 2017. The day my life changed. Of course we are in the age of technology taking over our lives but at that moment I was ecstatic. I received a notification on Instagram that I had a message. "bperkins97 has sent you a message." In my mind I am not thinking about my best friend, I thinking some random person wants to talk to me. I read the message and all it says is "Hey it's been too long" to which I respond with a simple, "I'm sorry" and he says "You don't recognize me do you?" From that point I am a little suspicious and I take a closer look at his pictures and tears start running down my face because it is then that I realized it was my best friend. So of course I say " The only person I know with that last name is someone I use to spend almost every day playing with when I was a kid. He was my best friend and was there for me through everything" (I knew who it was but I was just playing along). To which he responds, "Aimie, it's me." So of course I immediately give him my number and tell him to call me right then and there—unfortunately he can't. He then explains to me that he is in the military now. He is a Marine stationed in Jacksonville, North Carolina and that even if he could call me, I wouldn't be able to hear him because of the commotion going on in his barracks.

We start talking about how things have been and just getting back into the swing of things. I tell him that I told my parents and that they were so happy for me that I heard from him. A few weeks go by and we are still talking every day and he tells me that he is going to be able to have a few days off and we start talking about, "Well what if I could fly up there to see you?" We both got really excited and I told my parents and the next thing I know my mom is looking up flights and hotel rooms for me to stay in while I'm there. Time goes by and he tells me that plans have changed—that the time he was supposed to have off he now has to go to a training exercise in another state, and that he feels bad about the situation because we had already bought the tickets and stuff but of course I say it is okay. We have the rest of our lives to get our childhood friendship back on track. Obviously during training exercises we could talk to each other very much but one day he messaged me and said he was coming home. Not just going back to base, but coming back home to me in Louisiana. I was so excited but then he tells me the reason behind coming home is because someone's health isn't doing that great. He comes home but he had to jump right in the car with his family and head to Alabama. A few days go by and a family member had passed away. The end of the week comes and he tells me he is coming back to Louisiana because he misses his friends and he wants to finally see me again not just on a phone screen.

The day of gets here and I am getting ready to see my best friend again. I do my hair and make-up (obviously waterproof) and I go to his house. There he is walking out of his house, walking up to my car. My very best friend in the entire world! Back in my arms.

Here is where things get a little not G-rated. He is throwing a party with all of his friends that he had made after me, to which he introduces me as "Guys, this is Aimie, my best friend before all you stupid mfs." Everyone starts laughing and the night goes on drinking, dancing, and having fun like we never even lost touch.