Anniversary: Yay Me!

I thought I'd celebrate my one year blogging anniversary with a story that showcases how influential friends can be.

My BFF + ∞ is a tiny beautiful creature that is as tough as she is sweet. Inches shy of 5 feet she is the epitome of the saying "Big things come in small packages".

My Nana told me once that you are lucky in life if you find one true friend. I'm not sure how I won the cosmic lottery, because not only is she that one true friend, we met before starting preschool, and although I lived in a rural area where neighbors are distant and neighbors with kids your age are almost unheard of, she & I lived on the same road.

We're physical opposites in many ways--I'm average height and dark haired while she's short, blond & blue-eyed. She's gymnast-flexible while I can't touch my toes without bending my knees. She can sing, I cannot hold a tune in a bucket. As we grew up and started school we bemoaned the fact that we never had classes together and as a result we ended up running in different social circles. Her beauty and bubbly efervescence destined her to be part of the "in" crowd while my bookwormish tendancies and overactive imagination lead me to geekdom. People on the outside sometimes had a hard time understanding why we were friends, but we would only smile mysteriously and enjoy their confusion.

Perhaps it was part of the reason that we fell into believing that I was the smart one and she the pretty one. Stupid, really, because we were both smart and beautiful, but that was how it was. A gamer goddess I might be, but one look at this girl and my nerd-harem were drooling and falling over themselves every time they learned she was single (however, my hubby has gratifying told me recently that I'm "way hotter" and he's all that matters).

Less easy to convince my BFF that she was smart...although she IS incredibly intelligent. Several years with the wrong man had almost convinced her that she wasn't, but luckily she's done with him now and recognizes her own worth.

But back when we were younger? Because I was the "smart one", if I said something, it had to be true.

We had a long bus ride to school and we spent a lot of time playing pretend and giggling. We used to share the little tupperware container of applesauce my mom would diligently pack for my lunch on the ride home, dipping our fingers in and eating it sans spoon. In one particular bout of youthful silliness and defacement, we smeared some on the bus seat in front of us.

And were horrified but fascinated with the fact that it was still there, hard and crustified, the following day. This naturally led to a discussion on boogers, as this hardened dab of applesauce now appeared distantly related to said bodily mucus.

"Where do boogers come from?" she wonders aloud idly.
"Oh easy! They're you're brain shedding," I respond matter-of-factly.

I will point out that at this point I believed it myself; after all, it made a strange sort of sense to me. We hadn't gotten to the mucus membrane part of health yet, but somewhere I had picked up the bit of trivia on exactly how mummy's brains are removed via the nose and extrapolated a theory that to me was definitely plausible.

We both pondered this for a minute, myself proudly at the wonders of my logic. I mean, c'mon! Boogers are a strange color (don't tell me you've never seen one) that could vaguely be related to brain matter color. Why else would your nose fill up with snot? Obviously little kids are often snotty because they're growing & learning so much, so the brain has to shed more often to keep up.

Duh!

Eventually I learned about mucus membranes and the function they provide for the body.

She, however, came to me incensed one day years later.

"You know what? I told someone that boogers are your brain shedding, and they laughed at me! They told me they weren't and I argued with them, telling them how my super smart friend had told me so it had to be true. You lied to me!"

She tried to hold the indignant look but as always, failed to hold it under the barrage of giggles from my direction. Soon we were collapsed in hopeless puddles of laughter, clutching our stomachs at the pleasant hurt this episode was causing in our midsections.

Happy Anniversary, self.

I love you BFF + ∞

Thanks for believing in me, understanding without words, and all the things a true friend does for another over the years.

I still think brain shedding is a WAY better explanation than mucus.