My best friend is my mom
We nap together, play together, and she always makes me smile
She picks me up when I cry
We are together almost 24/7
She loves me unconditionally
I am six months old

My best friend is my brother
We love to go to the park
We swing, we laugh, and we run around
We wear old clothes to get dirty
We don’t care how each other act
We are five years old

My best friend’s name is Lindsay
We go to school together
We are always getting in trouble for talking
After school we hang out and sometimes collect caterpillars
We wear clothes that can get dirty outside
We are nine years old

My best friend’s name is Reanna
Our friend is the only boy that’s friends with girls and not afraid to be
We play tag, swing, and play four square
We don’t judge each other on what we wear or say
We hang out and money doesn’t matter
We are thirteen years old

My best friend’s name is Daniel.
We help each other through everything,
We see people being excluded for being “different”,
We love each other for who we are inside,
We don’t care what the other’s house looks like.
We are in high school.

That’s my transition from baby to present.
When you are little, when it comes to friends,
It’s the people you have fun with and can laugh with.
When you get older,
People judge by clothes, money, gender,
Things that shouldn’t affect who someone is.

I choose the friends that care about me,
For whom I am without money or a big, fancy house.
I choose my friends by how they treat me.
High school is all about drama.
If you look around, you will see exclusion
And possibly experience it for yourself.

High school is a battle for some people,
It can change you,
Or you can stand up for yourself
And be who you want to be.
Be strong, be kind, be you.
Exclude exclusion.