The Influence of My 9-Year-Old Son's Best Friend

My 9-year-old son has made a fantastic summer friend.  That friend is unique, and funny, adventurous, and a blast to be around.  Avery (my son) and his friend ride bikes, and play board games, and watch YouTube.  They eat large bowls of ice cream and laugh as it melts of their spoons.  They make believe with stuffed animals, listen to funny songs on the radio, and sing karaoke and dance in the road.  They play chess, and XBox games, and build legos, and run through the sprinkler together.  They eat watermelon and watch the juice drip down heir elbows on my front porch steps.  They swing as high as they can on the swingset on my front lawn, and pick raspberries and throw them in each other's mouths, most of the time missing, but still laughing.  They draw with chalk on the driveway, and make contests out of who can roll the spool of tape the longest down the hill. They create obstacle courses with hula hoops, plastic buckets, and tires.

They are the real, true best friends.  The type of summertime friends that you never, ever forget.

And the greatest thing: His best friend is a GIRL.

A girl, who has beautiful dark skin and long, black hair.  She wears skirts sometimes, and paints her nails. She plays with barbies, and baby dolls, and has taught Avery how to make friendship bracelets and  choose a great 2-piece bathing suit at Wal-Mart.  She also loves swimming, and fishing, and playing in the sand and mud at the beach, and boy can she throw and catch a baseball!

I love Avery's friendship with this girl- this fun girl who lives 2 blocks away from us, is a year ahead of him in school, and unconditionally just loves him as a playmate and friend.  There's absolutely nothing more, and nothing less to this relationship, except pure, solid playmate-hood and friendship.

Their time spent with each other is bittersweet to me.  I know that in a few years from now, the relationship will become weird.  "Weird" I say, because puberty will happen, and relationships will change, and, well, let's just be honest here- middle school.

But right now they're perfect.

There's a lot a "girl" friend can teach my son about life.  Maybe, most importantly, that girls can be great companions.  They can be fun, and adventurous, and exciting, just as much as boys can be.  And they're somehow allowed to like things- like dolls, like nail polish, like sewing crafts, that other kids may think are dumb or "girly".

And what else?  Girls can be just as grounded in their opinions as boys.  They have just as much of a say in what game we play, or how we play it.  They are just as capable of what adventure we decide upon for the day, and what the outcome is.  Girls are just as strong and opinionated, and capable, and ready-for-fun as the boys are.

This little girl has shown my son what true, real friendship is, and at the same time has introduced him to things he may not have ever felt comfortable with with a "boy" friend. She may never know what a gift she's given him.

I am so thankful for her, and their friendship.  I cherish it, knowing that it most likely won't be forever.  Not a closeness like this, anyway.

I want to go back to being 9.  I want to re-live 4th grade.  To love a friend, for who they are, regardless of gender, with no strings attached.  No weirdness.  No, "maybe".  No awkward moments.  Just pure, un-romantic, un-judged,  innocent human connection and companionship.

So my 9-year-old son, before the age of romance, and school dances, and short skits, and brand-name cologne, has the blessing of having this chosen person as his best friend.

This friendship may or may not be one of the most influential and profound relationships of his life.  I can almost guarantee he may never experience something quite like it again.

And don't we know it?  That fact is little sad, but very likely to be true.

Be still my heart; cherish these moments.