Tell Your Story Through Journaling

Your Best Friend – The One Who Knew All Your Secrets

A journal series for women who are ready to tell their story.

There is a particular kind of friendship that only happens once. The kind where you are completely yourself. Where the laughter comes easy, the secrets are safe, and the memories you make together become the stories you tell for the rest of your life. The kind of friend who sees you before you even see yourself. Every woman has had one. And today we are going back to find her.

This Week’s Journal Prompt

“Tell us about your childhood best friend. What did you do together, what trouble did you get into, and what is one memory with her that still makes you laugh out loud today?”

Let It Unfold on the Page

Settle in and let the memories come. Here are a few gentle nudges to help you go deeper:

 

• How did you meet her? What was it about her that drew you in? Was it instant or did the friendship grow slowly over time?
• What did you do together? Where did you go, what did you talk about, what were your favorite things to do when you were side by side?
• Tell us about the trouble. Every great friendship has a story or two that starts with “we probably should not have done that.” What is yours?
• How did she make you feel? Did she bring out a side of you that nobody else could reach? Did she push you, challenge you, or simply make you feel completely free to be yourself?
• What is the memory that still makes you laugh? The one you have told a hundred times and it never gets old.
• Where is she now? Are you still in touch, or is she someone you have lost along the way but never quite forgotten?

There are no wrong answers here. Just your story and hers, woven together the way only the best friendships are.

 

Why This Prompt Matters

A best friend in your formative years is one of the greatest gifts life can give you. She is the one who sees you outside of your family, outside of your roles and responsibilities, outside of who everyone else expects you to be. She sees just you. And in seeing you, she helps you see yourself.

Writing about her is a way of honoring not just the friendship, but the girl you were when you were with her. The one who laughed too loud, stayed out too late, and did things she probably should have asked permission for first. That girl deserves a few pages in your journal.

My Story: Barbara

I grew up in the country and Barbara lived in town, and somehow that distance never mattered at all. She was one of my best friends in high school, and I will just say this right up front. We were lucky we never got into real trouble. Lucky and perhaps a little blessed.

I was the only girl in my family with four brothers and a very protective father. Sheltered and overprotected were simply a way of life. Barbara changed that. She helped me come at least a little bit out of my shell, and for that I will always be grateful.

She would come out to my house to spend the night and we would ride horses and laugh and just be girls together with not a care in the world. And when I went to her house we would explore the town, wander around, and find our own kind of adventure.

Barbara worked at a little ice cream shop called the Double Dip. And one evening the two of us ended up in the back room of that shop with a boy I had a rather significant crush on. He had his arms wrapped around my waist and I held onto him for dear life, because Barbara came at me with a safety pin she had heated over a match flame, an ice cube pressed against my earlobe, and absolutely no hesitation whatsoever. She pierced my ears that night in the back room of the Double Dip while I sat on my crush’s lap trying very hard to be brave. Did I have permission from my parents for this? I did not. I dealt with the consequences later.

Then there was the evening of the Boone’s Farm Apple Wine. We went on a double date, Barbara up front with her boyfriend and me in the back with one of his friends. When the Boone’s Farm came out I hesitated. The only wine I had ever tasted was an occasional sip of my father’s Manischewitz red, which I did not like at all. But Boone’s Farm was different. It tasted like apples. What possible harm could there be in a couple of sips?

I remember the warmth that came over me. Soft and slow and rather lovely. And then my seat partner kissed me. And it was so nice. Was it the wine or the kiss that was so nice? Or was it the two of them together? I honestly could not tell you. And I smile every single time I think about it.

I have not seen Barbara in decades. We lost touch the way people sometimes do, quietly and without meaning to. But wherever she is I hope she is doing well. I hope life has been good to her. And I hope she knows that she is remembered with the warmest kind of laughter. Because every girl needs a Barbara.

An Invitation

Now it is your turn.

Think about your Barbara. The friend who knew all your secrets, talked you into things you probably should not have done, and made you feel like the best version of yourself. Write her name at the top of the page and let it all come back.

And when you are done, share a memory in the comments. Just a glimpse. I have a feeling this comment section is going to be full of laughter, a few happy tears, and more than a few stories that start with “we probably should not have done that.”

Your story is worth telling.

KathieyV

Tell Your Story Through Journaling | A series for women with stories worth telling