Friends are friends forever...or at least I'm hopin'

Cast of characters
The Activist -- friends since 1982
Eeyore -- friends since 1988
Shank and The Collator -- friends since 2005

Back when I was in college, the class of 1987 adopted a Michael W. Smith song as their official class song. They would play it at every gathering, sing it while walking (arm-in-arm) with each other across campus, and object if anyone else dared use it.

They really got on my nerves.

Today, I realize the sentiments of that song are pretty much true. Most of the friends I've made over the years have stayed with me. Although we may no longer keep in touch, I definitely consider the relationships I've had to be a key part of who I am today.

Call me pathetic, but when I was a youngling, I didn't have the luxury of too many friends. I was crippled with shyness, and even worse, possessed a hellacious overbite. For me, elementary school was an asphalt jungle, Lord of the Flies kind of world, to be sure.

Braces helped restore some of my shattered self-concept, as did a change of schools. Eventually, I discovered drama, which helped me break free of much of my reserve. And college brought me lots of friends, thank God.

One such friend is The Activist. We competed in college for the same guy; neither of us won, and we bonded over the dual rejection. She's big on neighbor relations, works with RAIN, loves and is loved by her little boy and her partner, cares for stray animals, and encourages tolerance and communication between people of all faiths and different sexual orientations. She's a dynamo.

My friend Eeyore helped me make it through grad school without losing my mind. He's laid back, talented, encouraging. This is the kind of guy he is: the day I had comps, he took a day off work, drove me to OU, dropped me off at my building, handed me a good luck charm, hung around until I was done, and drove me home. He's helped me lay tile, reupholster a chair, hang curtains, dig a garden, paint a room. What a guy!

Newest on the friendship pole are Shank and The Collator. Still newlyweds, I met Shank at the library, and thought he'd get along with SO since they appeared to have the same musical tastes. Also, rather eerily, he appears to be a male version of me in many of my likes and dislikes. His wife, The Collator, is an obsessive collector of recipes and has arranged and integrated them into a vast series of notebooks. She's wry, plays the piano, and cooks these amazing dishes. Both enjoy hanging around with us and our boys, and LegoGuy says Shank treats him like "an adult" and WA Sport likes to count The Collator's shoes.

Will they still be counted as friends after they read this posting? I'm sure at least one will object to these pseudonyms!