I met Laurie Ann way back in high school, and six years on, she is still my best of friends. The first day we met, she walked up to me and introduced herself. It felt way weird shaking her hand like grownups do and declaring my name to her after the hand shake. "Stacie Oliker?" "Pretty name." she remarked instantly. This close friendship allowed me to come to know and experience a level of self disclosure like no other. With her I was and still am myself. Our high school friendship has unfolded over the years and has given us considerable time to build our relationship and invest in a friendship of an enormous value. My high school friendship with Laurie was my whole life, and I had placed a high stake on this friendship more so as she always takes care of me in a way that I have never experienced with any other female friend.
Looking back, Laurie is the one person I felt closest to, and still do and I knew instantly when we met that ours was not the teenage friendship of fighting over boys and clothes and for a spot on the Handball team. Ours was for life. When asked who my best friend is, I do not randomly offer a name so as to be perceived as lucky to have a best friend, I only do so confidently knowing that Laurie's friendship with me is far much more intimate to me emotionally than any friendship I have ever had. She is my best friend for she is compassionate and tends to take care of me all the time. Her key personality trait is a nurturer, and this does not in any way impede her other close attachments to other people.
Our friendship has stood the test of time, and by now, I not only consider Laurie to be a friend but, a sister. We have achieved a level of sisterhood over time. Regular correspondence via email and phone calls plus numerous text messages have enabled us to always keep each other in the loop, even though she now resides in a different country, and I haven't seen her in ages. When we meet, we still manage to laugh just as long and as...
