A friend is someone who knows everything about you, and likes you anyway!

I remember the exact minute when I first met Liz.
I was going to KU, and I felt pretty alone. I had friends and acquaintances, but nobody that I felt like I could really be myself around. Anyway, a girl I knew from high school but never really hung out with called me one day and asked if I wanted to meet her and some friends at a bar in Lawrence. I was a bit hesitant because she was in a sorority and so was one of her friends that was coming. Now I have nothing against sorority girls for the most part, but I had had some not very nice experiences with them in the dorms. I went though because I was bored and lonely. Thank the lord that I did.
I met them outside the bar. They were waiting in line to get in (the KU mens basketball team frequented this place often, so there was always a line). I found Alicia and she introduced me to her sorority sister Laura. Laura then introduced me to her friend from high school, Liz. We had a good time that night. I like all three girls a lot. They were mainly laid back, fun people. We all kept hanging out, going to bars, going to each others rooms or apartments. We even planned a big spring break trip to Cancun our sophomore year (a story for another time!).
As time went on I began becoming better friends with Liz. She was hilarious and fun, but a little timid and shy. I know we were good friends before we went to Cancun, but I really remember that trip as the week I really saw what a good friend she really was. (Although I'm not sure how good a friend I was! She kept telling us she didn't feel very good, but we kept dragging her out drinking and dancing and being crazy. Turns out, she had mono the whole time!) We decided to try to be roommates our junior year. I had an apartment and several revolving roommates, not one that I could actually stand. So, for her to move in was a no-brainer.
This is where that quote in the title of this post comes in. I was a horrible roommate. I was messy (to say the absolute least), I was noisy, I was not responsible with bills and getting them paid on time, I was in a pretty crazy part of my life when I was searching desperately for who I was. She was great, she was clean and organized, quiet, responsible (ok, we both had a little problem when it came to money!), and a dream roommate. And she still loved me. We probably had a few arguments or times when we weren't crazy about the other, but those are not the moments that stick in my mind. I remember the times when we were inseparable. We had so much fun. We really kind of balanced each other out. She kept me in check when I got to out of control, and I pushed her to do crazy stuff she might not have done otherwise. We climbed the fence and swam in the apartment pool at 2 in the morning in our clothes. We took day trips to Kansas City to see her family (where she sent me to the back of the car to get a stupid furby that was making noise, slammed on the breaks, and almost sent me though the wind shield....good times!) I became very close with her family, they were my second family and I always felt I had someone close if I needed them. We had parties that were so much fun. But we also had quiet moments, just talking and being there for each other.
I have no idea how I would have gotten through that year without her. We both saw each other through boy troubles, work troubles, school troubles, family troubles. There was more than once that I slept on her bedroom floor. There was more than once I cried on her shoulder. Literally. She became my best friend. Someone I knew that I would be close with forever. After our junior year we both moved out of the apartment. She came home with me to Wichita to visit. She was there when Larry and I got together.
Then Larry and I decided to get married and we moved back to Lawrence together. She decided to stay in Kansas City with her family. We didn't see each other all that much. It was sad, but every time we did talk or see each other it went right back to where we were. There has never been a time I felt we had to "reconnect". We were always already connected. She was my maid of honor in my wedding, and I was a bridesmaid in hers. We talk as often as our lives allow and get together when we can. We are both married and she has a BEAUTIFUL little girl...that looks just like her! They were going to come visit for Labor day weekend, but circumstances will not allow it now. I am bummed, but I know that she is doing what needs to be done for her family. And I respect that.
I just want her, and the whole world, to know what she means to me. She is that one friend that I have no doubt will last my whole life. I love her like she is family, and I guess she is in a way. We both earned a place in each others families.
Thank you for reading this extremely long post. I was laying in bed last night and knew I had to write it. This is a kind of a journal for me and a way to keep track of my life. Liz is a major part of my life and what I have become. Thank you my dear friend. What would I have done without you?