Power of Two

"Friends are there for you when you are sad... but best friends already have a shovel to bury the loser that made you cry." - anonymous

     
    There are some songs in my soundtrack that aren't love at first sound- I didn't like them initially but they've grown on me through the years because of the memories they hold. This is one of those songs.

    I don't really remember why I disliked "Power of Two." I think in high school someone told me it was a lesbian song (not that I had or have anything against lesbians) and for some reason it made me think that liking it would make people think I was a lesbian, too. (Yeah. Very logical.) I also found the song just a teeny bit cheesy. (I mean, the closer I'm bound in love to you, the closer I am to free? Really?) At the end of the day, though, it's in the soundtrack of my life. It's there for one reason, and one reason alone: it reminds me of a very important person in my life- Cheska.

    I've known Cheska since June 1999 during our first semester in university and we've been close friends ever since. We were in the same tiny class majoring in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. I was hesitant to talk to her at first because she looked like a snob and a bit of a bitch, only to discover later on that I was mistaken with my first assumption and was completely right with my second. She was my kind of girl! And more than a decade since we first met, she's still my kind of girl. (She will later on be instrumental in the founding of Picnic 101, but more on that some other time.)

   I think Cheska was the first girl friend I had that I felt really understood me. It was very easy being with her. She was one of those people everyone liked. She was so well-liked, actually, that sometimes it became a nuisance- everyone wanted to talk to her about their problems. We talked about this topic once, a decade ago, how she found it funny that a lot of people regarded her as their best friend and expected she felt the same when she didn't. The label really amused her. I don't remember how the whole conversation went but that part really stuck. Since then I've tried so hard not to put a label on my relationship with her, for fear that she might not reciprocate.

    The thing is, as much as I try so hard not to put a label on it, she's THAT friend to me. She was my maid of honor, she's the first friend I tell about stuff that matter, she'll be the godmother of my future offspring. I trust her with my life. And the physical distance between us doesn't change anything. This song, as cheesy or as sappy as it is, reminds me of our friendship throughout the years. Of the things we've been through. It reminds me of how instrumental she was in helping mold "present me." (If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be introduced to the wise words of Calvin and Hobbes - the perfect life-lesson publication.) She's been there for me during my darkest hours, she's seen me at my worst. And she's stood by me. Always.

     So this is it. What I've been wanting to say all along:

    Ches, I don't care if I'm your THAT friend. But just so you know, you're mine. You're my THAT friend. Happy, happy birthday!