“Giving so much of yourself, It seems the only way. Tell me what you want and I, and I will give it to you.”
– Candy Rain, Soul For Real
Whenever Jasmine and I attempt to pinpoint the origin of our friendship, I usually set the start time as around seventh or eighth grade. Jasmine swears she doesn’t remember meeting me until high school, but I remember her showing up in my middle school gifted class. Our class was significantly smaller than the typical classrooms, both in the number of students and the available space. The gifted crowd lived somewhat like exiles in a small trailer outside the halls of the school, so it was a huge deal if a new person graced our presence.
High school was where our friendship flourished, or if you believe Jasmine, where it began. We shared many of the same classes and even joined the softball team together during senior year. I think one of the qualities that drew me to Jasmine was that she always seemed to know who she was and be confident in that. She wasn’t a follower. She knew she was different and took joy in that even when I seemed to flounder, wondering when the painful awkwardness of being different would end. Although I’m still considered a bit peculiar in some people’s eyes, I embrace it in the same way that Jasmine had embraced the reality that she had more mature concerns than some of our average peers back in our school days.
I cannot think of a time Jasmine and I have ever had a fight. This can probably be attributed to a few factors. Our conversations have never carried a confrontational tone. We genuinely want the best for one another and so jealousy has no place in our friendship. Then there is the space we leave one another. Intentional or not, when we go for months without seeing one another, it could very well be contributing to the lasting health of our friendship as it allows us time to tend to our own lives and the responsibilities contained within them. All that passed time means story time is guaranteed to be entertaining as we catch up on all the randomness that the two of us encounter.
Jasmine is a creative like me. Armed with a Cricut® and imagination, she crafted items for her daughter and placed items for sale via her blog. She even unboxed and reviewed beauty products via her YouTube channel. The channel was placed on pause after her daughter was born. With a new baby on the way soon, there may be a bit of an extended wait on the return of YouTube videos, but Jasmine is hopeful she’ll get the blog up and going again. I look forward to reading her motherly advice and I can’t wait to share it with you.