Old Worn-out Cliché, but Still Kicking

It’s a cliché, I know. It’s also a TRUTH, a truth that I am finding out more and more as I grow older: A good friend is hard to find. 

You know the kind, they really don't exist for a lot of people, except in movies. (Think: the fearsome foursome in Sex in the City.) The person who always has your back, who is never afraid to let you (and the world) know exactly whose side they are on, even if means hurting other people’s feelings, the one who is honest with you even if it makes you mad but always comes back to say, “I love you, anyway.”  Most people are LUCKY if they have a hand-full of these types of friends in a lifetime.

I’ve had a few. They are literally spread across the US and, even though I don’t see them nearly enough, they are in a class of their own. They belong to an elite fighting force...

(Ever wonder why combat veterans make such tight friendships? Why, after 50 years, they still love each other fiercely? They fought for each other against a common enemy -that creates bonds set in some serious CEMENT, think: UNDER-A-SKYSCRAPER-CEMENT)

...of people who love A-Girl. Really love her. These people? I never had to wonder whose side they’d be on after my divorce. In fact, they are still so pissed at my ex-husband that I’ve also never had to say, “Um, it would hurt me if he was one of your Fb friends.”  They will have nothing to do with him, at all. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?  I’ve got family who don’t love me like that.

If you are lucky enough to have someone like this in your own life, hog-tie ‘em, duct tape ‘em, and throw ‘em in the back of your car. Never let them go. They are a rare gift in deed.

I want to be that kind of friend. The one who will NOT abide injustice happening to you, no matter who it pisses off. The one who knows who her friends are and sticks by them.

Horse has this buddy horse (known, from here on out as, not surprisingly, “Buddy“)  who belongs to my Best Barn Friend. It’s cool that our horses like each other and hang out (we often find them grazing together) -kinda the buttercream on the cake of our friendship.  

Anyway, so there is a new horse in Horse’s pasture and horses, like a lot of folks, just have to fight it out when someone new is introduced. Today, when I took Horse back to his pasture, there’s Newguy standing at the gate. Well, I ran Newguy off, did my normal stuff with Horse and let Horse go. Then, I stayed to watch what would happen with Newguy and Horse. They approached each other and stood very still and then I heard this big horse squeal, which must have been Newguy, as he was the one who turned and trotted away.  

Out of the bottom of the pasture, Buddy came tearing up the hill. (I think he was trotting but that is TEARING IT UP for Buddy. Buddy does not like to move his feet.  :) ) In the meantime, Newguy had turned around to see what the commotion was about.  Buddy flew past Horse, threw his ears straight back and pushed Newguy farther back, away from Horse- the last I saw of Newguy, he was trotting down the fence line, away from us. Buddy turned around and looked at Horse who was like,

"Dude! I had this one!" 

I swear, I could just imagine them giving high-fives to each other, sans opposable thumbs. :)Then, they both just went back to grazing.

Odds are, Newguy, Buddy and Horse will all be friends, hanging out in the pasture, but for five minutes Buddy wanted to be sure that Newguy knew that nobody was gonna hurt Horse while he was around.

Yeah, that kind of friend.

Buddy and Best Barn Friend

BBF on Buddy, A-Girl on Horse