Hello! My name Heidi. I am a 26 years young wise woman from the Chicago northwest suburbs. A little over a month ago, I met another woman who turned out to be so dear to me she could have been twin. This woman has the most kind and beautiful soul, but she lost herself along her journey of life. She was struggling with the loss of a close loved one, struggling with drug abuse, and struggling with poor self love and care: This woman hated herself and everything around her. Not only did she, herself, look sad and felt physically and mentally horrible, but everyone she cared for was falling apart and depressed as well. For about a month and a half, that woman and I were the BEST OF FRIENDS. I showed her how to love herself more than anything else in the world. I showed her how easy life is if we just remember the little things that we already knew. In example, loving each other, thankful for each other, thankful for our health, and learning that time is our greatest wealth. We colored, we sang, we danced, we listened to Disney music, and watched children movies to remind ourselves that it’s really simple to never forget the bare necessities. Quickly her life drastically changed and did a complete 360. She put down the substance abuse, she put down the alcohol, we told others to put the guns down, she even put the cigarettes out and then she told the people around her how great life really is. She started loosing weight, cooking, cleaning, and loving herself more and more. Then she was able to share the love and the knowledge with everyone and everything around her. We continued to practice more on how to share the love we relearned with others, especially through the love of music. One weekend we went camping and she had no idea how to really really camp. We went with some of my family and some of her family and enjoyed the wilderness by the lake and in the woods. We all shared so many laughs and sang around the fire the whole weekend. On the last day, she built the biggest strongest fire she thought was impossible to build. Not only did she build the fire, she kept the flame going until the second we left the camp site. We learned together, that we will never stop learning, because the world is always teaching. Today her and I are still and will forever be the best of friends. The love and bond we have for each other will never break. We spread our love to our loved ones to remind our friends and family that we are all in this together. We sing, dance, and laugh with each other everyday just as if we were still kids. As of today, she has her own successful business, she is opening up her own clothing line, she just got casted to be a television star, and is thankful for the hand she was dealt. She is completely healthy and she is sober and clean from everything. This beautiful woman doesn’t have a worry in the world and she loves herself more then she ever has. Please, never forget who you are and where you come from. When we were born into this world, we were loved. And when we leave this world all we leave with is the love we shared with others. Love is all we really got to give and receive. We are one big happy family and I Love You. Again, my name is Heidi and this is a story about you and I!

Under a clear winter night sky dotted with thousands of stars we drive our snowmobiles up into the mountains. The snow that covers the mountains reflects the light from the sky making their silhouettes easy to see. The fresh snow on the track is lit up by our headlights while cold air hits our faces through our helmets as we drive along until we reach a large, beautiful one room cabin on a peaceful lake. The stars in the sky can clearly be seen in the perfect reflection of the water on the lake and the cabin looks so warm and inviting with the an orange glow escaping from the windows. At the front of the cabin there is a fire roaring in the middle of a seating area which is surrounded by hundreds of tiny LED fairy lights suspended from the trees.

Eddie Rollier lived across the street in a one-story frame house with his mother, father and older sister. Because of his proximity, it was natural that he was the first friend I made when my family moved to Latoka, Illinois, population 500. He and I were nearly the same age, but Eddie spoke with a severe impediment and he suffered from the tragically common cycle of abuse at home and failure at school. Eddie's father, Rick, was perpetually angry and I'd seen him beat Eddie with such frequency that he seemed to feel comfortable doing it in my presence. He knew, as I do now, that his particular brand of discipline was pretty much sanctioned by the town. So, Eddie and I never spent much time around his house.

It is okay to forgive and not be their friend anymore. That is what my counselor told me at my last counseling session.

To my Best friend, Biffle and Soul sista

Eleven years and counting. That’s how long it’s been. Perusing through this thing called life together as friends but more so like sisters. I think of you as the wise, kind and thoughtful sister from another mother. You radiate such immense goodness and strength. I often think that if there were more people like you in the world, it might just be a better place. I think back to the time when we first met. Just two young women working at a women’s retail clothing store trying to earn our way, pay check to pay check. I of course saving for studio time and you putting what you could aside for school.

Dear Erica,

Dear Best Friend,

Dear Dina,

If you were to Google “define best friend” it would give you a little sentence that states “a person’s closest friend”. If you were to ask a diverse group of people their own definition, do you think it would be the same? A 14 year old girl is going to have her “BFF” just as much as a 75 year old woman whose “bestie” may not be with her anymore but “she will always be here in spirit”. The person they did everything with. The person that was their first call and gossip to. The person who they could air their dirty laundry to and still be loved. It’s true. That person is the closest person to them. That person would be the first person they call when their life had somehow fallen apart. That person would know them before they even knew themselves.

Falling out with people is a far more complex prospect than it was in the good old days.... it was so much simpler when you could just keep out of their way.....any raging was likely to be in person, or at worst over a home telephone, remember them?