Day 46 - #365grateful

My mom sent me this meme today. "That one girl..." I have been that girl several times in my life through school. Well, sometimes there were two of us girls, but we were hanging out with the boys because it really was less drama. I wasn't a big tomboy or anything, but I was willing to do "boy things" because hanging out with the boys was so much more fun and relaxing than hanging out with a group of girls could be for me. 

I felt scrutinized and judged by girls. And it felt like girls were often judging others too, which I didn't like. But when I hung out with boys, they just accepted us as we were. They just focused on having fun. They didn't care what you wore and they barely cared what you said or how you said it. And they said exactly what they were thinking. There were never any hidden messages. It was so easy. 

I discovered boys as friends in elementary school. A group of boys rode around on their dirt bikes, and my friend and I started tagging along. We learned to swear, we tried "popping wheelies", we learned how to skateboard, we met up at a dirt bike path and rode around in circles until it got dark. In high school, I found more boys to follow around. I bought a pair of hockey skates and spent many days at Munn Ice Arena, my friend and I bought car magazines and tried to learn the names of all the cool cars while listening to Led Zeppelin or Pearl Jam all day. Dating added a new complication - I often stopped talking to my male friends while one of us was dating someone else. Or ended up trying to date my friends. But despite the new issues, being friends with guys was still more comfortable for me. Again, in college, I found myself forming my closest friendships with guys. Going out to the bar to have some beers while watching the Red Wings. Waking up while it was still dark to start a day of tailgating before a football game. 

And while having fun, I realized these guys really were intelligent and caring people. They had insight to problems In ways that another girl never would have. And most of the time, the answer to the problem was "Why are you even worrying about it?", which was usually a REALLY good question because it was almost always something I had no control over.

I still talk to several of my guy friends from the past. We're able to live our lives, not see each other for months, but pick up exactly where we left off when we do get together. My girl friendships didn't last as long. Most have ended. So, today's #365grateful is for all of those guy friends I've had over the years. Thanks for just being you and for letting me just be me.