Friday, July 22, 2005

She's only seventeeeeeen!


I'm pretty sure that's how old Kendra and I were in this picture.

Twelve years later, here we are. REAL CLOSE to entering our 30s -- we've marked every landmark birthday together so far, and 30 will be no different. Becki calls her a "foul-weather friend" because she's so great when you're feeling down. She's hilarious and witty and even after all this time, there are few people that can make me laugh as much as she does. Our conversations have changed over time, but somehow, there is always a part of us that can quickly revert back to the silliness of high school. We always joke that one day, our kids are going to simply roll their eyes and be like "that's how they ALWAYS are," because we've embarassed them with our behavior so many times. We clean up well, don't get me wrong, but there's always going to be an inordinate amount of laughing involved.


She will ream you up and down for a bad decision you made, but if anyone ELSE dares to tell you the same thing, she'll defend you up and down. She always sends Christmas cards, and always has birthday cards. She's been a bridesmaid a million times, because the bride always knows who will be the most organized and take the best care of her -- it's Kendra. She's "the drunk dialing bandit," but it's somehow endearing because the messages she leaves are priceless.

Kendra and I fight more than any of our other friends combined. It's because we're so alike and because what annoys us in ourselves annoys us in each other. And it's also because we're so close. Since the rest of our girls have moved and/or gotten married, she and I have gotten closer to each other. We live 3 minutes apart -- she lives in the house she lived in in high school, and I live a mile from my parents' house, across the street from our high school. I talk to her pretty much at least once a day. We are like that old married couple who finishes each other's sentences and is so irritating because the conversations go something like:
"Hey, remember when we --"
"-- went to that place -- "
"-- yeah, and did that one thing -"
"-- oh my god, that was SO funny."

Our idea of hanging out is being in the same house, but one of us is reading a magazine/watching t.v./doing laundry and the other one is taking a nap/painting her toenails/surfing the internet. We can order for each other at our favorite restaurants and never have conversations like "what kind of pizza should we order" because it's a given. Neither of us can believe that the other one's much younger sibling is no longer two years old -- it's just not possible. Kendra could hang out at my parents' house without me with no problem, and I could do the same with her parents. Though her status with my mom was briefly threatened after the "JFC Debacle of '99," it's a mark of how awesome Kendra is that my mom will still always hug her first when we walk in the door. There are a million other things, but suffice it to say, if you have a best friend, you know where I'm coming from.

So in honor of her upcoming birthday extravaganza tomorrow night, I'm posting a memory. And if I know Kendra (and I do) there will be another memory in picture form to post on Monday, after the party. Which is a good thing, because if I know Kendra (and I do) she's gonna need some pictures to remember. I foresee that we'll be at her house on Sunday, in what we have so aptly named "the hangover basement."


Happy Birthday to you, Kendra! I love you!!

10 comments:

Beth said...

That is actually my phrase. Becki is a joke and phrase stealer. She does not give due credit in her humor hack ways (TM Merideth). And Becki invented TM.
He.

Amber said...

Beth -- so noted. I will bring this up with Becki later this evening, so if you plan on taking her to the cleaners on copyright infringement, you just let me know. It just so happens I know an attorney who specializes in civil litigation... : )

Marie said...

This is such a wonderful post and birthday tribute. I can so relate to everything you said about "best friends" and the bond that exists. :-) I'm sure you'll have an incredible evening at the birthday festivities! I look forward to reading about it. :)

KC said...

This post actually made the hangover from which I'm suffering today somewhat bearable. :) Time for greasy food and a scroll through my phone log to see who I'll be calling later to apologize for my drunk dialing. Getting older somehow does not equate to becoming more mature...for me at least.

BB said...

I love the tribute to K-lo! She is the BEST person to talk to when you feel like dirt! She has repeatedly threatened to do bodily harm to my ex-boyfriends over the past 15 years ("If he hurts you, I will wad his face up in a ball!" TM Kendra)

P.S. I'm a joke MISSIONARY (TM), spreading humor to everyone!

Just Me said...

happy birthday kendra!! LOVE the bangs...cute ;)

Cheryl said...

Aw that's awesome. Everyone should have a Kendra in their life.

Cty said...

That was such a sweet and well-written birthday tribute. You've inspired me to call up my Kendra (a dear friend actually named Katharine) and tell her again how important she is to me.

Chief Slacker said...

hangover dens are great. My Condo is slowly becoming that and now that Big Mike is moved in... lookout! our friend D even said he doesn't want to stay there this weekend when he comes to visit because he thinks he'd get in too much trouble!

Beth said...

Missionaries don't pretend that they made up the word they are spreading. They give due credit to God.
It should be noted that I am not comparing myself to God -- just pointing out that missionaries give credit where credit is due.
Becki is a joke thief.