A mushy post about friends

This month marks 16 years since the best move my BFF, Barbie ever made. Moving to Texas! Early next year she and I will be celebrating our 16 year anniversary. I've always believed that boyfriends/fair weather friends come and go, but best friends are forever. Sometimes when you make friends, you immediately know you'll be friends forever. Those are the friends with whom you can be completely honest, who can handle you raw, unfiltered opinions, and will always forgive you when you disagree or hurt their feelings. This, for me, is Barbie. There are those friends who slowly become best friends over time, too. Not the same "lightening bolt" so to speak, kind of a slow charge until one day you realize that your week isn't complete unless you interact with this person (you know who you are). Then there are those who you didn't expect to become your best friend but turn out to be irreplaceable (you know who you are, too).
I remember when I first met Barbie. I was fresh off the boat, so to speak, and she had just moved down from Iowa, a cocky 17 year old who thought the world owed her. I would greet her every morning with "morning Baaaaaahb!" and she'd reply "uh.. it's BaR-BIE". And I'd laugh because she hated to be called Barb, and it cracked me up to have her correct me. She was so emphatic and animated. Her hands would go up as a visual cue for me as she sounded out the word "BaR-BIE", and her eyes would kind of dart around in her head. Y'all know the face I'm talking about. LOL!

Anyway, happy 16 years in Texas, Baaaahb! And here's to another 16 years of us laughing, fighting, and being there for each other.