In this post, I am sharing with you 7 reasons why childhood friends are the best.
Recently, Josh and I took a trip to New York City.
And when we were in the Big Apple, we had the pleasure of spending some time with one of my childhood best friends, Amanda.
Of ALL my childhood friendships, my friendship with Amanda may be like 1 of 2 that still remain into my 30s. (Here, I am defining "remain" as "someone I talk to relatively regularly.")
But I guess the shrinking number of remaining childhood friends makes sense.
As we get older, the sad reality is we begin to outgrow and drift apart from our childhood friends. It's only natural.
Everyone’s busier now. We have more responsibilities and obligations. In our teens and 20s, everything was about our friends, our social life, and having fun. At least, this is what my teens and 20s were like.
But now -- with work and dating and family and everything else "Being 30" entails -- I have far less dedicated friend time now than I did ten years ago.
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Of all adulthood friendships, though, maintaining childhood friends specifically is a struggle. Often, these are the friends you see the least. The ones who you've likely moved away from. The ones who've likely become the most "out of sight, out of mind."
But let me tell you something: when you take the time to maintain a childhood friend -- oh man, it is worth it!
So today, I want to talk about why childhood friends are the best -- and I want to give our lasting childhood friends the props they deserve.
This post is about why childhood friends are the best.
You liked each other during your awkward years.
Childhood friends knew you during all your eras.
I'd be bold enough to say that of all your adulthood friends, the ones remaining from childhood are the least superficial of all.
Let's be honest. No one looks back at their childhood/teenage years and thinks, "Yes, that was my pinnacle. That was me at my peak."
So the fact that your childhood friends actually liked you then -- when you were so not in your prime! -- means they really must like you for you.
You shared pivotal teenage milestones with each other.
Prom, getting your Driver's Licenses, high school graduation. Your childhood friends shared all those milestones with you.
And even though our childhood milestones may not be the most significant milestones in life, they are still milestones nonetheless.
So any friend you share many [hopefully] warm and fuzzy memories to is bound to hold a special place in your heart.
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You helped each other navigate the teen years with your whole hearts. Even though none of you knew WTF was going on.
In hindsight, it's clear that no one knew WTF is going on during our childhood years.
But you know what's so great about your childhood friends? They committed themselves to supporting you during these years, even though they had NO IDEA what they were doing themselves.
Only your childhood friends could demonstrate that kind of selflessness. A total abundance of support, love, and guidance, even when they were completely clueless themselves and totally unqualified to give you anyone advice.
But you know what? That earns a bond and level of respect that later-in-life friends (as good and great as they are!) just can't recreate.
You held each other's hands through your first heartbreaks.
*sigh* There's nothing like your first heartbreak.
The world feels like it's ending. You feel that you'll never recover. You just don't even know how you can possibly go on.
And you know who saw you through that? Your childhood friends.
Because they coached you through that catastrophic experience, they are the best when it comes to coaching you through later-in-life heartbreaks, too.
They saw you through your emotional gutting at age 17, after all. Surely, they can help you at age 33 through the short-lived Tinder-guy situationship that lasted three months. They'll know just what to do!
You have the STUPIDEST jokes.
You still have the same inside jokes as you did when you were 12. And you still laugh just as hard now as you did then.
Two inside jokes I'd like to share with my childhood friends reading this:
• "I have razor burn."
• "I don't have texting."
IFKYK.
You can go months without speaking, but you always pick right up like no time at all has passed.
You know what I love about my childhood friends? They are so low maintenance.
But when you think about all the changes a lasting childhood friendship needs to endure, it makes sense.
Growing up, leaving your hometown, the college years, your 20s, marriages, etc.
If your relationship required constant attention and maintenance, it would have never survived all these transitions.
And you know what? No one's offended by it, either. This has been "the way it is" for years now, and you both get it.
So even though you may now go weeks and weeks without speaking, you'll surely reconnect without missing a beat -- and it won't feel awkward at all.
You still keep secrets for each other that you will take to the grave.
Look, our younger years were marked by debauchery and testing [our parents'] boundaries. Of course, we kept secrets for each other. And of course, we'll take these to our graves with us.
Like, do I still remember what you were doing on October 23, 2007, at 6:09 PM? Yes, absolutely.
And do I still remember the cover story we shared with our parents? Like the back of my hand.
Will I tell a soul the truth as long as I live? No freaking way.
Your secret is safe with me, buddy. And I know mine are still safe with you.
And that's what makes childhood friends so special.
So now, my fellow 30-somethings, I'm wondering: Why are your childhood friends the best? The same reasons as mine? Other reasons? Let me know in the comments!