How I Met My Best Friend

My friend Kim and I became friends when we were 10 years old. Our parents introduced us over a family dinner. My mom told us to get ready to go to dinner. We got ready to head up north for our family dinner. It was out of the blue that we were going out to eat. When we got there, we were shocked to see that we were at somebody’s house. Mom said, “I would like for you to meet someone.” The person my mom introduced us to was her boyfriend Ira. Ira had 5 kids of his own there, one of whom was the same age as me. Her name was Kim. At first we didn’t get along at all because we were forced to be there.

Soon after that dinner, they were married. Kim and I were the same age, so once our parents were married, we were forced to play together, which made us dislike each other even more. We came up with a plan to break our parents up. The plan we came up with was for us to keep fighting every time we were around each other. We yelled, took each other’s stuff, hit each other, but our parents were like, “That’s what siblings do.”   

After a year, one weekend Kim came over crying because a girl from her school took her lunch money, and we sat in my room and talk about it. I was like, “you should’ve knocked her out.”

Kim said, “I told the teacher.”

“And what did the teacher do?” I said.

“Nothing,” Kim said. We laughed as we were coming up with plans to get the girl when she went back to school. As we sat there in my room laughing and joking, we realized we like a lot of the same stuff.

Over the next two years, Kim and I were glued to the hip. We even went to the same school in the eighth grade. Our plan never worked. It’s been over 20 years. Kim and I are still friends, and our parents are still going strong.

 As time went on, we became so close that at one point we were roommates. I had my daughter Jai and Kim was pregnant; we were loving our lives for a few months. Until I got pregnant with Jazzy, that’s when we went our separate ways. We went our separate ways because my kid’s father had asked me to marry him. Kim’s relationship was moving her away to North Chicago.

Today we are still friends. I am the godmother to her son, my baby boy, the son I always wanted. “Lol” Our kids still spend the summer together.  After 20 years, we can still call on each other and be right there for one another no matter what.

Pamela