Life is more than just a simple country road that drifts around soft bends and over rolling green hills. Life could be a highway; six lanes of traffic, bumper to bumper, and no end in sight. Life could be a twisty mountain road; climbing upwards into the clouds, sharp turns, and inches separating the car from thin air. My life is a road with three sharp turns, representing each time a move has taken place against my will. The third turn is the most dangerous. It is at the top of a cliff, and as the back tires of the car finish the turn, rocks slide down the steep overhang. After this turn though, the road travels straight into the horizon, free of rocks and potholes. The potholes and rocks have been cleared by my three friends. Dakota, Robert, and Kyle have been there for me at my moment of most need and have together created, in part, the person I am today.

When Dakota joined my swim team back in sixth grade, a bond instantly formed between us. Everyone who knows us describes our relationship as one a brother and sister might share or compare us to an old married couple. His parents are my second parents, and he is the brother I never had. Every swim meet we went to and every problem that I have, he is always supporting me. His enjoyment comes from making fun of me, though I know that he will never let me down. Twice since my move, I have seen him, and each time, it feels as if nothing has changed, except maybe his facial hair. With each passing day, even without direct contact, our friendship grows stronger.

Strong would not have been the word that a year and a half ago I would have used to describe the friendship between Robert and me. We shared four of the same classes my freshmen year, but that was the extent of our contact. After my move though, a mutual friend helped Robert and me stay in contact. Slowly that friend drifted away, but Robert and I stayed close. In the darkest times of my life, when I have sunk into depression, Robert was there to aid in keeping me sane. We keep each other afloat when the worst of times hit and keep each other company on cloud nine during the days full of sunshine and smiles.

One smile will stay with me all my days. Kyle has a distinct smile that is able to capture the laughter in his eyes and teasing tone of his voice in a quick flash of his twenty-eight teeth. With his signature smile, he was able to distract me from the impending move with a joke or a comical comment during a serious conversation. As a fellow swimmer, he challenged me in practice and at meets. We competed at every aspect of life, from swimming to school to neighborhood games of basketball. He continually pushes me towards the ever-illusive goal of ultimate perfection and tempts me to dream as if there is nothing keeping me down.

My dreams were shattered, and my life seemingly ruined when I moved from the place I called home to a city where I was a stranger and a nobody. With the assistance of Dakota, Robert, and Kyle, I have been able to reform my image from the “new girl” to a person who drove into the horizon and is now reaching for the skies. With the support and influence of my friends, I have found myself looking at the screen on the back of a digital camera and not being able to recognize the smile I have on my face because this smile shows genuine happiness. My feelings can accurately be described by the twenty-fourth verse in the eighteenth chapter of Proverbs with the words, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” We do not share the same bloodlines, but my friendship with each Dakota, Robert, and Kyle runs thicker than blood.