Recently, one of my best friends, whom I've shared just
about everything with since the first day of kindergarten,
spent the weekend with me. Since I moved to a new town
several years ago, we've both always looked forward to the
few times a year when we can see each other.
Over the weekend, we spent hours and hours, staying up
late into the night, talking about the people she was
hanging around with. She started telling me stories about
her new boyfriend, about how he experimented with drugs and
was into other self-destructive behavior. I was blown away!
She told me how she had been lying to her parents about
where she was going and even sneaking out to see this guy
because they didn't want her around him. No matter how hard
I tried to tell her that she deserved better, she didn't
believe me. Her self-respect seemed to have disappeared.
I tried to convince her that she was ruining her future
and heading for big trouble. I felt like I was getting
nowhere. I just couldn't believe that she really thought it
was acceptable to hang with a bunch of losers, especially
her boyfriend.
By the time she left, I was really worried about her
and exhausted by the experience. It had been so
frustrating, I had come close to telling her several times
during the weekend that maybe we had just grown too far
apart to continue our friendship - but I didn't. I put the
power of friendship to the ultimate test. We'd been friends
for far too long. I had to hope that she valued me enough
to know that I was trying to save her from hurting herself.
I wanted to believe that our friendship could conquer
anything.
A few days later, she called to say that she had
thought long and hard about our conversation, and then she
told me that she had broken up with her boyfriend. I just
listened on the other end of the phone with tears of joy
running down my face. It was one of the truly rewarding
moments in my life. Never had I been so proud of a friend.
