BFF? BFFs? BFsF?

I have almost completed a photo album project on FaceBook called The 30 Day Photo Challenge in which I have been given a prompt to relate to each day's photo. Looking back over 27 photos I see almost all of my favorite people....my best friends. After 42 years of friendship I don't have a best friend...I have several. I make friends easily and have a zillion acquaintances, but when I bond with someone it is pretty much for life. It is true that people come in and out of our lives while some are only around for a season. I have had several seasons and through the miracle of FaceBook have reconnected with some of those seasonal friends. Other friends and I have been separated for years at a time but still fall right back in line when we reconnect. This drives my mother crazy. She is someone who prefers a solitary existence and doesn't require the camaraderie of girlfriends or even neighbors. She doesn't understand my need for chat or a confidante.

Someone once asked, "what makes your best friend your best friend?" Where shall I start? My best friends are all completely different from each other. I joke that they all like me but they really don't care much for each other. And really, without me in common they wouldn't ever interact. And I think that is why they are my best friends. Each of them has a unique quality that compliments me...or brings out something in me that doesn't get expressed otherwise. One of them forces me to see both sides of everything. I can be terribly judgemental and opinionated when I feel threatened or emotionally injured and this friend points out my selfishness. Another friend has the gift of perspective. She knows me and my history so well that she cuts right through my baggage and shows me where my focus should be. Another friend is probably clinically insane but she makes me step out of my box and experience new things that make no sense at the time but later I am glad I did them.

I have my two Best Friends From High School, my two Best Friends From College, my three Best Friends From My Hippie Days, my four Best Friends Since I Moved Back Home and my three Best Friends From Work. Sadly, one of these women has passed away. One moved away and didn't look back and another fell into a different circle of friends but I'd still meet either of them for lunch if they called. Clearly, I am not a bridge burner.

Yesterday I reflected on all the neighbors I have had over the years, but unlike them, my Best Friends remain as such. Some of us are in contact almost daily while others only check in once in a while. But just like we need different things from different people, we need them in varying quantities as well. I have a very small immediate family and my extended family is spread throughout the country so my best friends are my chosen sisters. My relationships with them are extremely important to me and my sense of well-being. They bring out the best in me and put up with my worst. They really are God's way of taking care of me and I am so grateful for all of them.