Bonds

   Bonds are different for everybody, but nonetheless keep us tied together. It keeps the relationships that we have with people unique, strong and at times, unbreakable. Let me elaborate......
  I'd like to start off with a friend of mine that I consider a sister. She's practically a family member because just about everyone in my family that I'm close to knows who she is. Okay so let's go back to the days when we didn't know a thing about each other. I had her as a classmate in my English 1 Pre-AP class in high school and she's probably going to kill me for saying this, but I thought she was pretty insane in the membrane. Little did I know I was pretty insane in the membrane myself, I think that's why we got along so well, ha ha. We both kind of came from rough backgrounds so that just made things less awkward between us and made it easier for us to understand why we were the way we were. Well we began to hangout before and after school, playing hackie sack with a bunch of other friends in our class. I swear we used to act so dumb and immature. Not paying mind to anyone around us we would laugh in mute about any and everything. Oh the days of being a Freshman in high school, it was just so breezy back then. I think everyone around us would laugh just as hard as us, at us. My oldest sister told me that her and my brother in law used to trip out on us because of how we used to act, she said we always had them laughing. Well I think there was this one party I went to with her that made us bff's. Because after that night was when we became inseparable to the point where we were always at each others houses and if  not, then on the phone. Eventually, this bond made her my partner in crime, getting us into things that we probably shouldn't have gotten away with. So then came the time when we both got in trouble with two other friends for reasons that I'll keep discreet. Well to say the least our actions landed us in an alternative school for our first semester of our Junior year of high school. Which was really bad because we couldn't be apart of any kind of activities at our home school, It was a bad time to get caught up if anything. Well that was just one of the things that made us grow closer than we already were. Because she was the only friend that I could talk to because I saw her at school. Well then came our Senior year in high school when we kind of had a fall out. I blame that on me, because she was on that, "trying to get right" status when I was on that "can't get right" status. She would get onto me for doing careless things because she was one of the few people looking out for me when I wasn't even looking out for myself. Which I don't even think I've ever thanked her for. So this made me become scarce around her because I wasn't trying to hear it at the time. I guess I just wanted to do my own thing at that point. I still hung out with her, but not as often as I once did. So because of things that were going on at home and the lack of encouragement that I had within myself, I ended up staying behind while my classmates all graduated. Moving along, we still talked but our time for communication was short because she was always working and I was always attempting to  receive my diploma. One thing I can say though is that no matter how many times I failed to conquer acquiring my diploma, she was always there to help pick my spirits up and try again. I know we would go months without talking because of how life just became so hectic. But despite that, we would always pick up where we left off with no kind of resentment towards each other. I can say that God has tested both of us and with that said we have always passed because we always end up finding each other. We have both been there for each other through many rough patches of life. I kind of feel like we were made to be each others best friend, because it seems like we complete each others lives. It's like she fills up the different parts of me that I lack and vice versa. I guess its a sort of true love thing and not that we're in love with each other, but the love that we have for each other is genuine. Its just something so rare to be so close to somebody like that and still be in their life after all of these years, growing pains, bumps in the road and everything else life has thrown our way. All of these things have made our friendship bond more of a unique sister like kind of bond. She has always felt like home to me and my family also considers her one of us.
  Another bond I have is the one I have with one of my sisters. We are closer in age so maybe its why we can see eye to eye easier. But even so, it didn't start out that way. So back in the days of childhood I was a mean little kid. I really don't even know the reason behind any of it, but yeah, I was mean. I was always fighting with her, maybe more than I did actually getting along with her. I really couldn't tell you how bad or good it really was because it was so long ago, it seems. But I think when I became a teenager was when things calmed down and our bond began to be an optimistic one. I remember always wanting to be with her all of the time because I felt that she kept sunshine in my life. I was a really dark person as a teenager and I think she kept me grounded and uplifted no matter what was going on in our lives. Because believe me, we went through heaven and hell and hell and heaven with our parents. I don't want to bad mouth my parents because I love them, no one is perfect and everyone goes through  things. Lets just say that we went through a lot. Anyways, as I grew into an older teenager I was always around her because all of the things that we went through made us love each other more. It just made our sibling bond even stronger. We were always doing things with each other and she was always down to hangout with my friends. I guess they all reminded her of me. I know my close friends loved her and would want to be around her just as much as I did. Well she has always been there for me when I needed her the most and I have also been someone she came to as well. You know I think our bond has reached a height that I can't even measure ever since we lost our dad to cancer. Because I swear its like we live in each other's heart's. Almost like we became twins ever since. Everything I feel she feels, everything I want to say, she already knows. I tell her things I wouldn't dare tell anyone else because of how harsh, hurtful or crazy I know it would look in anyone else's eyes. She just understands me the way I feel nobody else does. The kind of bond that we have is so unfathomable because sometimes I cant even explain nor express how much I love her in words, because the love I have for her goes way past that. Again everything we have withstood in life together has made our bond so unbreakable and genuine. I feel so blessed for being given a gift of a sister as her. I always tell her that I don't know what I'd do without her in my life.
  The last bond I'd like to mention started at church when I was about thirteen years old. She was my friends cousin and I don't think she had been to church or had really even known who God was. Well I think I remember being the first one from our youth group to go up to her and introduce myself. As awkward as I was back then I had a kind heart to just be so inviting and make her feel welcomed. Of course I learned this action from always being the new kid everywhere I went because my parents moved around a lot. I don't really remember much of what she said to me at that time. But I know I had seen her later on that day because her little cousin had a birthday party that my family was invited to. Well I think we pretty much just got to know each other that day, because after that we became good friends. Well I would always see her at church on Wednesday's, Sunday's and whenever our youth group did things together. I just remember her kind of standing out to me, because I don't think I had met anyone like her before? She was a bit on the wild side but I wasn't an angel back then either. Growing up in church together we began to learn that we weren't so different. We both had stuff going on at home that we would share with each other. It was a big part of the reason we became so close. I guess we became each others outlet, because when you're a teenager you're so helpless to fix things like that. All you can really do is just have someone be there for you that understands what you're going through and uplifts you when you're in the depths of life's dismay. We had bonded over school, church and home life. As we grew up she began to learn more about God and became His disciple and a member of our church. I guess I got to see her blossom into a woman of God, which was really beautiful to me. To see someone make a complete transformation and surrender the person she was before was something else. With that said she once told me that she wanted to know more about God. But that one of the leaders of our church got onto her about asking so many questions about God. She said she felt that she was being held  back from knowing God more and  worshiping him limitlessly like she wanted to. So she began searching for other churches that better suited her, which lead to not seeing her too often as I used to. Over the years we just became distant, not because we were on bad terms, but for the simple fact that we went to different churches. I would see her once in a blue moon and hear from her every now and then. Which eventually lead to this one incident where she was in a really bad car accident. I remember it being a rainy Wednesday morning when her mother texted me about her being in the hospital. At the time I didn't know the extent of how extreme it ended up being. I remember texting her mom back from school, asking her what hospital she was at so I could go after I got out of class. But I didn't get a response the whole day. So I just figured it wasn't that bad, that maybe she had already went home from the hospital since her mom didn't tell me anything else. Boy was I wrong. I got a text from her mom that night telling me that a car hit her, that she broke her pelvis in two areas and that she was in ICU. At that point I literally dropped everything I was doing and said a prayer for her as a million thoughts ran through my head. I had just lost my  dad a few months before so none of the thoughts I had in my head were  good. I just remember asking her mom for the room number so I could be there the next day. I saw her in the hospital bed and started having flashbacks from seeing my dad in the same position. I kind of just wanted to break right then and there. But I managed to keep it together in front of her, her mother and little sister. She was a little sleepy from the pain meds she was on, but I remember seeing the smile on her face when she saw me. I was glad that she was conscious and out of the ICU. I was there for a while, but I remember leaving so she could get some rest. It was a relief to know that she was ok and still breathing, despite her broken pelvis, bruises and scratches. I was there the next few days she remained in the hospital. they released her way too soon and she was homebound. Her mother kept me updated on her progress, which was my way of keeping an eye on her from a distance since I was still in school at the time. So as you can imagine we again became apart of the cycle of barely speaking on the account of just life becoming hectic. Time passed and already a year from that time I get a random call from her, an apology if you will. Telling me that she was sorry for not keeping in touch with me all that great. She then said that we should hangout and explained that she had a dream with me in it. Which provoked the actions of needing to reunite after so long. So she was giving me her schedule so we could figure out when both of our schedule's lined up. But of course if it wasn't her it was me that let time fly as I got caught up in my own life. And once again we fell into this circle of non-communication. But something in me snapped into place and made me think that this wasn't right. How could I let this friendship of years go to nothing?? I refused to let this bond that was once so strong die. I then contacted her telling her what was in my heart and she also agreed that we needed to do something about this. I'm still in the early stages of  mending this bond to what it once was, but I have nothing but positive thoughts that this will all come together. It just amazes me that even after all of these years of going back and forth with this friendship barely being there, that we are both on the same page and are willing to piece it all back together. I guess this bond isn't so weak if we can still come together on this. A bond such as this one doesn't just disappear, it still remains, even if it maybe in the background of our lives.
  As you can tell, there are all types of bonds you can share with people. It all really just depends on how much time, effort and love you put into it. I know I can say I have learned that, be it through years, loyalty or even friendships that have come and gone.