Have you ever had that one person who has always been there for you and you know will be there forever? I have that person, and I am extremely lucky. Ever since I can remember we did everything together. We fought, we drove our Nonna crazy, and everyday after school there he was waiting for me to come home so that we could continue whatever game we were playing the night before. Sure, sometimes he was a brat, but undoubtfuly, so was I. We were the best of friends; I didn’t even consider him my uncle, but my brother. Everything was perfect but in the blink of an eye that all changed… He was moving. My family, the people I loved dearly were moving far… far away.

When I found out Christian was moving all the way across the country, I do not think my tiny 5-year-old brain comprehended what was about to happen. That my only best friend was about to be ripped from my reach and there was nothing I could do about it. My world would be turned upside down. No more games, no more walking down the street, with my mom’s hand in mine, to visit him, no more spending time together, no more anything. Before my grandparents and Christian even got in the car that windy October day, I was crying. Boy, is that the understatement of the year! I was bawling, and so was he. The last image I can remember in my mind from that day was of my mom and I standing out front of there house waving goodbye to them as the backed out of the perfectly paved driveway, in the window I saw Christian, his eyes red, and swollen lift a weak hand a mouth “bye.” He tells me now that he cried the whole 3,000 mile drive to California, and I believe him. I still consider him my best friend, the person who will always be there. Sure, I only get to see him once every year or so, but when I do it’s like we were never apart. It’s barely different. We still play games, we still argue, and we still cause mischief wherever we go.




I know I will always have him in my life. I have no doubt in my mind, no matter how he acts, that when I need him he will be there. Do I miss him? More than he could ever know. But when my mom and I stand in the airport, with hoards of people swarming around us, waiting for him to walk off the plane with his hungry eyes, scanning over the crowds of people, searching for our familiar faces and finally… just finally he spots us. And when he grins from ear-to-ear I know that he misses me too.