Did I pick you?

     "No te quejes, la familia no se escoje", one of my grandmother's favorite sayings. Lucky for us we can pick our friends? A while ago I realized each one of my friendships came to be out of some sort of magnetic pull. We can trace Sasha way back to my 6th grade midyear transition from private to public school. She sat next to me in the cafeteria and asked if she could spike my hair. The rest is history. We listened to New Kids on the Block, danced in front of the mirror, planned our quinces and went to all kinds of crazy concerts, ie: Marky Mark and 2 Live Crew. From our first kiss to our first heartbreak, to our first (hopefully our last)divorce, we've been tied at the heart ever since.We even managed to get her dad and my mom to fall for each other, making us sisters.

     In my early 20's I met Monica. She held my hair as I got sick each time we went out (which wasn't that often, hence my getting sick) and vowed to train me into a non-mixing non-pukey drinker. I have since mastered Margaritas and Martinis. Mission accomplished.
     At 30 it was Samantha. She was a stressed out rookie teacher and I was a rookie at being home alone every other weekend. Together we discovered the joys of waking up by the beach and not leaving a second before the sunset. She was by my side mixing cocktails, bikini shopping, tanning and listening to the sadness of my lonely, kidless home. Slowly but surely, we  were two shades darker and two sizes thinner.
     During my last minute career change, exactly at the time when I was wondering why did I leave my cute little second graders, came Nicole.  Teaching me everything she knows in half a grading period, and courageously going through our first year of middle school together, we quickly became known as Frick and Frack. At first we were a little insulted, but then we researched it and decided two old school ice skaters is exactly who we were! Never afraid to tell me anything exactly how it is: "Stop waiting, he's not going to call" and always willing to put things in perspective, without an ounce of judgement : "Well, at least you don't have to do that again!", with a follow up invitation to something fun like Black Eyed Peas or Automatic Slims, just so I could look on the bright
side.

     Let's call them an octagon, not a circle, of close friends. We can mingle together and understand that each of these friendships does not have to loop and close like a circle, but much the same as an octagon, it has sharp points that keep us connected.
    One by one they came at a moment when I needed something only they could fill. Each having a tiny connection to my soul, each teaching me at least one valuable lesson; helping me see a hidden truth or  unveiling reality behind a smoky circus mirror inside my hard head. I'd like to say I was clever enough to choose them, but I wasn't. It was that magnet, the one that magically fills voids with fortune and joy.