The first week September, 2000, the first time I threw up on that stupid tire swing in the playground at Webster Avenue Nursery School. He spun us until we couldn’t walk straight. And I wasn’t the first victim, there had been at least three others before me. But we trusted him every time we sat down on that thing, yet we were still surprised that he continued to push us even after we yelled stop. One of us was always bound to get sick. That was my first encounter with some of my best friends to this day.

It’s funny how life works. People come in and out of it like sun to the day. But then there are those select few that seem to have stuck around. It’s almost impossible to think of a childhood memory without at least one of them being there. You know these people like you know your family, and you know their families like and they know yours. Of course there have been blank spaces. Three people go to one elementary school, two go to another. Whether it be a separation of streets or states it’s as if there was never any separation at all. Because when we come home it’s as if we never left. It’s the memories of our 20 years together that makes those friendships untouchable.

I have been extremely fortunate to have grown up with such an amazing group of people. Seems as though I may have just been very lucky. Whatever it may be, I feel blessed to have been handed some of my best friends in my very first few years. I see these people every day, yet they are miles away. It’s little things on my way to class that remind me of so many of our funny adventures. Every playground I see seems to remind me of that tire swing.

Maybe it’s the small town, or our parents, or sports that kept us together. I’m not really sure how we managed all of these years. But I couldn’t imagine my childhood without these people, and I can’t imagine my life without them today. Growing up with these people was like growing up with a bigger family. Sometimes they know me better than I know myself, and I’m thankful for that. These are the people who reel me back in when I’ve cast my line out too far. Somehow they are the perfect mix of reality and tranquility all in the same slice.

Unfortunately, a lot of people are temporary in life, but some are permanent. The people on that tire swing are mine.