I was in my late teens when we met, it was one of those immediate connections and it’s one of the longest relationships I’ve ever had. I was working at a kiosk at the Eaton Centre and she came over to let me know her friend liked me and wanted to get my number. I said no to the boy but yes to her 🙂 

We set a date to go of all things biking at the nearby park. Halfway through the bike ride, we stopped off at the convenience store to get “fat free” candy because we were watching our fats and obviously knew nothing about sugar and calories. It’s one of those memories that make me smile all the time because we had no idea at the time what “watching our weight” actually meant. After two pregnancies each, we now know. 

We’ve seen each other through good and bad times. Through postpartum depression on my side and others on her side, though that’s not my story to tell. We’ve laughed till we cried, and we’ve been irritated with each other to the point of not talking, but we’ve always made up.  

She, not my husband, is the one person in the world that truly knows everything about me. All the mistakes, all the stupid things, all the fears, all the things you think you can’t tell another person out of fear they will not love you the same or they’ll be dissapointed. When it gets tough, she’s the one I call. When I found some scary lumps (turned out to be just hormonal), she was the first person I called in the parking lot of the doctors’ office.   

• She is honest and will 100% call me on my B/S. 
• She does not bash my husband no matter how hard I’m venting because she knows I’m just venting and needs a safe place to do it.
• She listens and gives her opinion but never tells me what to do or even hints that I should be doing it her way.
• She will ask “Do you want my honest opinion, or do you want me to listen?”
• With her, there is no need to say “don’t tell anyone” it’s understood. 

We don’t see or talk to each other every day, week or month. Sometimes life gets busy, but when we do, we pick right back up.

She is one of the greatest loves of my life. With her, I feel 100% accepted, secure in myself and able to be genuinely free in myself without the fear of losing the friendship because of any conditions set on the relationship. In this friendship, I know the meaning of unconditional love outside the confines of romantic or parental love, and it’s a beautiful feeling.

I was thinking about love and the many types of relationships and thought it was a great time to share. Sometimes the big love in your life isn’t the romantic ones – don’t buy into the hype that your soulmate has to be a romantic relationship. Your greatest love might be that friend that allows you to be your most authentic self.

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A post shared by Claire @ Drop Of Golden Sun (@dropofgoldensunca)