Friends Rock

I haven't posted since January. Maybe it is because there was a rumor going around that all my blogs were about certain people. Truth is, they aren't. I am not one to talk about people behind their back and I especially do not write mean blog posts about people. All my posts are directed to the general public. Anyways, I'm back. I plan on blogging more and I hope that that crazy rumor ends.

The point of the blog is about friendship. (And I will be talking about specific people this time!) I have amazing friends. Some live close, some live far. I love spending time with all of my friends. For this post, I would like to share some stories about how awesome my friends are.

The Young But Great

About a year ago, I went on a youth group retreat to help get a summer camp ready for summer. The one day, I was really frustrated with my stuttering. Someone made a comment about how I spoke and for some reason, that day I was extremely sensitive about it. I believe this was before I found Our Time so maybe that is why I was so sensitive. Anyways, during our worship time I started to get really frustrated and emotional about my stuttering. I went to the bathroom to get myself together when I was followed by a friend, let's call her Nancy, who I have known since I was in fourth grade. She is 3 years younger than me but I have always considered her a sister. She asked me what was wrong and I completely opened up and was a hot mess. She sat there and listened to me and said some amazing and sweet things. She was there for me to encourage me and help me through my frustrations. I will never EVER forget that. It goes to show that just because you are young, doesn't mean that you can't make a difference in people's lives.

The One I Vent My Guts To

I was having a sleepover this past winter with one of my really good friends. Let's call her, Stanley. (Apparently this was an old nickname..) I never opened up about my childhood days to anyone before. I don't know how we got on the topic but somehow we both ended up telling the other about our childhood and our pasts. We ended up talking till 6am. We were suppose to pick up a friend at 7am to go to Shady Maple for breakfast. We only got an hour of sleep but it was worth it. Afterwards, I felt so much closer to her. It really built our friendship to what it is now. Talking till 6am and going from laughing our heads off to crying and hugging was so much fun. It was great to talk to her and tell her everything. Although I don't see her too often since she lives 2 hours away, I am so incredibly grateful for her friendship and I am so glad that she is the person I got to talk to about everything!

The Encouragers

For Our Time (the theatre company that I am apart of for kids who stutter) we have a gala each year. One member is chosen to give a speech. This year, I was chosen. Mind you, this gala is in front of a good 800-900 people. I wasn't too nervous about speaking since everyone was there BECAUSE we all stutter. I was nervous because for the first time, I was opening up about being bullied and I was showing my vulnerable side. People knew that I was homeschooled because I was bullied but I never went into the full extent of what had happened. My speech was basically about what had happened and how Our Time has given me a voice and how much I have grown as a person through Our Time. (If for any reason you would like to read my speech, let me know. I have it saved on my computer) Anyways, opening up like that was huge for me. During the gala, when you weren't on stage, you were suppose to be in the green room. I gave my speech and it was really hard to keep it together while on stage. Especially when the audience made "aw" sounds and were gasping at what had happened. It was awesome they were so into my speech (and the standing ovation was a huge surprise!) but it made me want to cry. I held it together until I got backstage and saw my two closest Our Time friends, let's call them Olivia and Ricky, waiting for me with open arms. They told me how proud they were of me and I just hugged them. It was great that they were backstage encouraging me while watching my speech instead of in the green room. It was so great to hug them and hear how proud they were of me.

The One Who is Always There

Last weekend, I was really upset about something that was going on. I'm fine now but I was driving to play Mafia with some of my friends at church when I just started crying. I decided that driving and crying wasn't the safest thing so I pulled over in a gas station. The guy parked next to me kept staring at me like an idiot and was totally obvious about it. I called a friend..let's call this person Reggi. Reggi was driving home from work when I called and could tell that I was crying. Heck, Reggi could barely understand me! After determining where I was at, Reggi made his way over to the gas station. The first thing Reggi did when he got in my car was make a joke which made me laugh. He also played with a stuffed fish that I have in the car and was making obnoxious fishy faces at it. We talked and joked and I forgot about what was going on. I went on to have an awesome night with my guy friends at church with another heart to heart with two of my guy friends in my car. I guess my car is a good place to talk to people! :)

So all of these stories involve me crying. I really don't cry all that much but that is when I need my friends the most and I get awesome stories out of it! I have so many more stories about my friends but this blog post would be never ending! I'm going to college in the fall at Marymount Manhattan College (Go Griffins!) and I will only see these people a few times a year. It will be difficult to say goodbye but I know that these friendships are going to last a long time. I love each and everyone of my friends and I will miss them like crazy next year. I just wanted to share and brag about how wonderful my friends! Oh and to all of those that I have mentioned in my stories, if you think your fake names are absolutley horrible, blame Zach. He picked them. :)