Smile Upon Me

“There’s a place in this world where people like me are found by people like you. So find a place as this forever divine. Oh, yeah, you’re the best damn friend that I’ll ever have, you’ll always smile upon me when the seasons bad, you’ll always make me feel best even when I’m blue, you’ll always smile upon me and I’ll smile upon you too. . . .  “

            I positively adore springtime. I was seriously born in the wrong decade. I should’ve been born with the rest of the hippies dancing in a field of flowers making jewelry with beads the many different shades of a sunset. There’s just something about petals from the newborn tree leaves covering the streets and having your window open filling the home with natural cool air that just does something to a flower child. It’s a beautiful time; it’s the closest thing we have to heaven on earth in my opinion. Something I could really use right now.

            I had one of those rare moments when you feel the moment you’re in. It’s kind of like waking up from a dream you were having. Everything that you thought has happened before seems like a fast paced image that has only flashed before your eyes before moving to the next one and etc. Well, I actually woke up from the dream and found myself on the floor in my living room staring at the bookcase. . . . . . She’s gone. . . . . . . . and tonight is the night that I pay homage to our friendship a.k.a “The Three B’s.”

            When I started working at Dillards about two years ago I had met two ladies who would end up becoming a big part of my life. I’ve talked about them before, Taylor and Renee. The three of us did some growing up together. Kind of like a coming of age story that had a never ending line. Taylor and Renee were already old friends who had spent most of their time together and they intimidated me with their big personalities. I can remember the first time I had hung out with them.

We were all closing at Dillards, a tedious and boring shift and we were discussing our plans on what we were doing afterwards. Renee was the first to approach me and asked if I’d like to go out for after work drinks. I jumped at the invitation considering that I had drifted from my other friends from my previous job and was feeling a tad lonely. Along with another coworker from the accessories department we went for M&R: margaritas and relaxation. Too bad for us, there was another addition to our evening. A gentleman who worked for the railroad that was hot for Taylor. He kept dropping hints that he wanted to get with her or should I say, get in her pants more or less. I wasn’t amused by our surprised guest at all; arrogant, rude and obnoxious, three traits in a man that I refuse to associate myself with. Thankfully, I had found some familiar faces to socially drift back and forth to in between Long Island Ice Teas. I don’t know if it was the timing or if the stars were aligned but that was the first of many nights that we would spend together. From then on, we started spending a lot more time together. Whether it was fighting off old bosses and their emotional breakdowns, midnight walking, losing our wallets, dance club adventures or just enduring “The Horse” day to day, our bond as friends became closer.

I could I go on and on about our ups and downs and our misadventures during our friendship but in order to do that I’d have to spend an entire series doing so. The important part is that we cared and looked out for one another. We had created a bond that was recognized by our co-workers and the secrets were kept by each other.

So it came as a surprise when Taylor announced to us that she was moving to North Carolina to live with her boyfriend. Renee didn’t exactly approve of the whole idea because of her dislike for her boyfriend, but understood that Taylor was an adult and supported her nonetheless. I, while supportive, didn’t like the idea of her leaving. This was one of my closest gal pals we were talking about! A woman who turned me on to all things dark, gruesome, white trashy and even got me over of my aversion to wearing black and grey as signature colors; truly a woman who, despite her dislike of anything “girly”, was chock full of all kinds of pearls of wisdom.

We never had an official goodbye because I had been out of town and by the time I had come back (with a cold) she was already leaving the next day. After that, it was just me and Renee. After Taylor’s departure we continued to see each other whenever we could. Even getting together once a week at the local brewery for green chile beer and debating why we always went there instead of going dancing like we should have.

Weeks passed and life as I knew it had returned to normal. It almost felt like The Three B’s had served the purpose it was created for. Maybe we all needed each other for something and got friendship as an added bonus. I couldn’t speak for my girls, but here I was a timid, quiet individual whose only goal in life was to be as invisible as possible and somehow I wound up involved with two women with big personalities and the wardrobes to match. They gave me the tools to come into the person I am now: outspoken, confident and wanting nothing more than for everyone to know who I am.

Renee and I were at dinner one evening just rehashing the year of our friendship in the same place where it began and we were just amazed that we made it out with a ton of stories and most of our liver cells.

“How’d you wind up with us?” she asked.

Just lucky I guess <3