Those Who Know

My best friend and I recently figured out that we don't know each other. We've been best friends for the last three and a half years, and somehow, through all of that, we simply skipped the getting to know each other part.

We're not totally oblivious to one another. We know the basic habits and personality types that we uphold. We recognize our likes and dislikes, our similarities and differences, our most vital connections and the things that have the ability to push us apart. We can point out each other's favorites and the things we hate. Most important, we recognize that we both put up a facade.

The problem is though, we never reached through those facades. I know that she struggles with a lot of conflicting forces, but I couldn't tell you how those forces have shaped her today. She knows that I have dealt with a lot of loss in my life, but she doesn't know how those losses have chipped at my paint. We can't predict each other's actions, and we don't notice when the other is in pain.

Yet we still care. No matter how many people think that best friends need to know each other inside and out, we will never give up on each other. We are proof that best friends come, not from knowing everything about one another, but from loving one another despite the past. We are devoted to each other, not because we know how to be, but because we need each other.

I know, from personal experience, that dealing with life when she's not around is so much more difficult for me. She is my second star to the right or my Gandalf the Grey, showing me the way to the wildest adventures and proving to me that I have more skill than I know. She doesn't know me completely, but she knows me better than almost everyone. Truth be told, she is my sister. I couldn't exist without her. If anything ever happened to her, it would destroy me as well.

So here's my opinion. True friendship comes from needing one another. I love her because I know I can depend on her. She doesn't let me down. She never leaves me in the cold. I need her because she lifts me up when everyone else is dragging me down. I don't know her, not really. Maybe one day I will, but for now I'm comfortable with knowing that she's just a phone call away.