"I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing." ~Socrates

I just got off the phone with the friend I have mentioned before...the one about to get married and move far, far away from me.
We chatted for what must have been hours and talking to her made my day a little brighter than it had started out. Our friendship started our sophomore year of high school. She had moved to Lusk from Colorado and was a cousin to a couple of girls in my class that I had known since Kindergarten. At first, I was not too keen on the girl. They are of this non-denominational faith that derives from...I believe the Mennonites (is that right, Lis?). She was always wearing long skirts and a bandana headband. Pants for girls was still frowned upon, as was jewelry, makeup...anything material that would take the focus from God is frowned upon. They follow the King James Version to a T (though we know they are still just like the rest of us, huh Lis?).
Anyway, my first instinct was that the girl was dull. I don't care for dull. Boring was not a word that fit my lifestyle. In those days, I liked to laugh all day, use my sarcastic wit on every soul that felt the need to talk to me, make perverse jokes (I could talk about penises and vaginas all day and never be bored.), cuss like a sailor and do crazy shit for no reason other than to shock my peers. At the time, I was hanging with a girl who wasn't too cool (remember, this is the time in life when peer groups start to form) and being the cold, selfish bitch I dropped the girl like a hot potato (I later, after becoming a grown up, apologized for this cruelty to clear my conscience) and needed someone else to fill the gap. It had to be someone funny, someone who could handle by obnoxious behavior...someone cool.
Thank God for Walsh's English Lit class. This is where we started and progressed very quickly into a relationship that would stand the test of time. I learned that beneath all that Jesus there was a one kick ass chick in there who understood everything I said and laughed at every joke I made. There was only one obstacle. She was hangin' out with this other girl, who truly was a colorless soul. I really wasn't off key with her, she was dull. It took smooth talkin', friendly chats, and deep heart to hearts but it really didn't take much to swing the girl into my world. Once she was by my side, she never left. We had fights that lasted, at most, an hour and only took one funny incident to amend (like a guy trying to run us down on the sidewalk with his motorcycle) the situations.
We literally did everything together. I took her to her first party and got her wasted (sorry Vicki) and she took me to church (thanks Vicki) and gave me my first look at God. We "took Mains" (slang for driving back and forth the mile through town) and harmonized Ace of Base songs at the top of our lungs from 4 to 9 on weekdays and from noon to wee morning hours on weekends. We joined the same clubs to go to the same field trips (we rocked Salt Lake like an Alice Cooper concert). We conquered the State FHA Parliamentary Procedure competition to win a spot at National's in Orlando together (from which The Evil Miss Drake banned my participation due to lack of funding and Lis refused to go without me, so we stayed home...together). Hell, we practically lost our virginity together (within 24 hours). Now, come on, you've got to sense how close we were. She was the yin to my yang, the jelly to my peanut butter, the mirror to my soul.
Her family took me in as one of their own, and mine loved her as well. We remained side by side until the dreaded time for college. She was going to Powell, Wyoming and I was going to San Antonio, Texas. It was torture. The entire first semester we spent non - stop on the phone and writing 5 page letters almost every other day. It was unbearable. The loneliness could have torn me apart.
I missed her so much, that I had to transfer from San Antonio to Powell at Christmas. This was perhaps not the best thing to do for my education, but it had to be done to save my soul from withering in that city full of crazy, pierced, green haired, strangers that didn't understand me any more than I them. We lived blissfully through the second semester, so blissfully that we were drunk from Easter to finals week, skipped every class, dropped our A averages to INC's and were kicked out of the dorms 2 days before school was out.
Man, those were the days.
Sadly, this tore us away from each other again. Her parents had moved to Nebraska, thus, she moved too. I'd drive over the border on weekends, and we would talk about me going there. We had plans on rooming together in Scottsbluff (such a terrible dream, but we were young) until we saved the cash to move back to Powell and livin' the free life we had learned to love.
As life would have it, this was impossible. My dad was not going to pay for me to go to another school, stating I needed the break. Lisa, too, had to start surviving on her own. Terrible times that tried to sever the bond we had. However, we've still stayed together in spirit. She still gets me and I still get her, despite the changes we have gone through.
We're grown now, nearing 30. She has a 7 year old son, is about to get married and has finally gone back to school. I've maintained my goal of not having children (hey, we don't have to do everything together), but am married with a decent career...though I, too, hope to return to school soon.
With all of the changes, I know that I could still just show up on her doorstep and it would be just like 10 years ago, proving that the important things never change. The people that truly belong to you never leave and I'm so lucky to still have my yin. No matter how far apart, she will always be close to my heart.

I send this sappiness straight to you, Lisa. You still make my world livable.