Best Friends Forever?

Yesterday was the last Sunday our kids who were high school seniors would be at church. It's a group of them and they are all friends--girls and boys. Throughout the entire service, they were crying and hugging and woo woo woo. It was too emotional.

I thought about the fact that 10 years I was in the exact same place. Though I don't remember being that torn up about it, I did shed some tears. I remember sitting next to my best friend for Class Day (unofficial graduation program) crying as if someone was taking my right arm off. Picture: Celie and Nettie when Mister sent Nettie away. That's how we felt. And then we were at each other's houses the next day!

None of my close friends went to the same college as I did. We were leaving to start a new phase in our lives. And yes, things stayed the same. I still have the same friends I had 10 years ago. But things also change. People find their own identities and reinvent themselves. They become involved in other things that their old friends don't find interesting. And then some friends simply end their friendships for various reasons.

As I looked at those kids holding on to each other, I had a feeling that they were trying to hold on to the past, too. Yet, so ready for the future. I wonder how things will play for each of them. I pray for the best.