Friendship
Once my friend sent me a mold of her teeth as a birthday gift. They were nicely packaged. It was a side of my friend I hadn't seen before (the inside her mouth part.) I kept them on my dresser for almost a year. One day she called and said she needed her teeth mold back. (Hmmm, teeth mold sounds like a green oral fungus.) So I packed 'em up and mailed them to her so that she could procure a new mouth guard.
I think what makes me laugh the most isn't that she gave me her teeth as a gift, but that she gave me her teeth as a gift and then asked me to return them!
I've had other great gifts from Aimee. An Elvis rocking-chair pincushion, a coconut with my address written on it marker and a priority mail sticker stapled to its side, a pair of orange & purple striped pants, a hand knit scarf, a leather backpack from Prague, a cup of fake spilled coffee. In fact, my collection of gifts chronicles the travels of Aimee and means I remember details she doesn't. Not only have I been the keeper of her teeth, I'm often the keeper of her memory. I remember that the fish in her college dorm room were named Ben and Jerry. I remember that we pulled an all-nighter writing an English paper about Hamlet, secretly typing in a computer lab that was supposed to be closed.
Once Aimee travelled with a friend down the Alcan. The traffic was going slowly so she passed the line of cars, only to realize there was a pilot car leading them through construction. Once Aimee made me break into her ex's garage and steal a tent, only to feel guilty later so that I had to break in a second time and return it!
Aimee and I have not lived in the same town for almost 20 years. Sometimes I wonder if our friendship would have travelled a different path if we saw each other frequently. As I've settled down and into one place, she travels to exotic locations, runs a marathon in each state, and writes chapters for books about Central America.
Friendship is an interesting beast. It's funny who becomes our friends, who stays friends, who evolves with and despite you. Friendship lets us know others and know ourselves more fully.
Friendship makes me smile.
I think what makes me laugh the most isn't that she gave me her teeth as a gift, but that she gave me her teeth as a gift and then asked me to return them!
I've had other great gifts from Aimee. An Elvis rocking-chair pincushion, a coconut with my address written on it marker and a priority mail sticker stapled to its side, a pair of orange & purple striped pants, a hand knit scarf, a leather backpack from Prague, a cup of fake spilled coffee. In fact, my collection of gifts chronicles the travels of Aimee and means I remember details she doesn't. Not only have I been the keeper of her teeth, I'm often the keeper of her memory. I remember that the fish in her college dorm room were named Ben and Jerry. I remember that we pulled an all-nighter writing an English paper about Hamlet, secretly typing in a computer lab that was supposed to be closed.
Once Aimee travelled with a friend down the Alcan. The traffic was going slowly so she passed the line of cars, only to realize there was a pilot car leading them through construction. Once Aimee made me break into her ex's garage and steal a tent, only to feel guilty later so that I had to break in a second time and return it!
Aimee and I have not lived in the same town for almost 20 years. Sometimes I wonder if our friendship would have travelled a different path if we saw each other frequently. As I've settled down and into one place, she travels to exotic locations, runs a marathon in each state, and writes chapters for books about Central America.
Friendship is an interesting beast. It's funny who becomes our friends, who stays friends, who evolves with and despite you. Friendship lets us know others and know ourselves more fully.
Friendship makes me smile.
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