What Friendship Means to an Eleven Year Old

Have I ever bragged about my sister Jody before? She's eleven. Smart. Beautiful. Sassy. And she is an amazing writer.

She wrote this poem about friendship the other day:

A friend can be anyone,

Anyone who respects you.

A friend can be your next door neighbor,

A person who did a kind favor,

Or even your enemy.

Having a friend is like putting batteries into a clock,

Or sailing a boat in a dock.

Take this away and what do you have?

A clock that doesn’t work and an empty dock.

A person who doesn’t have a friend is like a book with no pages,

A sky with no sun,

 A pen with no ink,

Or having no blanket in a cold, windy night.

Give a good fight?

‘Tis is wrong.

-----

Essentially, a friend is "anyone who respects you," even your enemy.  

I've never thought of that before. That forces me to wonder --  am I a true friend? Am I patient with those around me when I am stressed? Do I listen to their ideas, and really think about them, even if I don't agree? Can I love my friends the way they are, without trying to mold them into somebody I think I might like better?

When an eleven year-old teaches you about life (beyond the fact that boys have infectious diseases), it's humbling. And reminds me of these wonderful people who somehow want to be my friends:

 We have fun being awkward together. 

I look up to these girls so much.

My best friends. I could not have made it through college without my siblings (+ JC).

I don't think they will ever know how much they mean to me.

 Kenji. Sticks with me during those stressful moments. 

He teaches me how to have fun (that does not involve econometrics).

I am still working on that.

 We love each other. Enough said.

 

Hwanhi + Nate

Hwanhi and Nate are seriously one of my favorite couples.

There are few couples who are so supportive of and loving with each other. I'm so happy that after over a year and a half of togetherness, they have finally tied the knot.

I had my five cakes and ate them too. I feel sick now.

 

 You leave behind your thumb print and your love as a guest sign in. 

Ingenious huh? That way, we'll know if somebody kidnaps the princess bride.

The happy couple!

Love them.

A Cutting Look

My parents know that whenever they call me during my Sunday cooking sessions that I will either 1. slice my finger along with the tomatoes or 2. drop the phone because hot oil just hit my eye. Note that this only happens when I'm talking on the phone with my mom. I just get distracted.

This Sunday, I was frying chicken. Deep frying. Dawn pointed out the fact that I had already talked to my mom so I would be safe. I prided myself on my perfect timing. I was invincible.

Then as I was reaching for the last piece of breaded chicken, my mom called back.

The rest was history. I accidentally dropped the piece of meat straight into the scalding bubbling hot oil. And in protest, the chicken splashed the oil all over my arm. I yelped and burned while Hwanhi and Dawn rushed to relieve me of the stuff I was holding.

They ripped through my mom's 72 hour kit and wrapped me up with layers of gauze.

The biggest burn was on my wrist. And guess what shape it was in?

A chicken thigh. 

----

The next day, I felt self-conscious so I removed most of the gauze around my elbow and just kept the one on my wrist.

I walked into my English class and barely plopped my bag down when the girl next to me pointed to my wrist and gasped,

"What happened to your . . .?"

 
She never finished her sentence. Then suddenly sympathetic, she asked,"how is life?"

Me: Well kind of stressful. I feel like things are spiraling out of control.

Girl (with a firm squeeze right on my burnt wrist and a knowing empathetic look): You can do this.

She sneaked another look at my clearly DIY wrist gauze job again.

Wow. She thought I was cutting.

Adam and Eve

In temple prep class, our teacher, an elderly lady who likes to wear ribbons in her hair, asks us a serious question:

"What happened after Adam and Eve were ousted from the Garden of Eden that allowed them to fulfill the other commandment that Heavenly Father had given them?"

Silence. 

Hwanhi: Menstruation.

--

Luckily for her, nobody else apart from me heard her answer.

Unluckily for me, I burst out laughing and our teacher probably thinks that I'm just thinking of something else that is entirely inappropriate.

Who We Really Are Inside

I was originally going to dress up as the Provo bubble. 

But making a costume out of garbage bags and duct tape was harder than I thought.

So one hour before the party, I rummaged through my closet 

and transformed into Chun Li the street fighter. 

Any guesses what Nate and Hwanhi were?

 My vote was drumming waiter vs. red-headed housewife. 

Apparently they were Ricky & Lucy from the 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy.

 Duh. Of course.

With Jesse, our P90X lego cowboy.

Of course, Justin just showed up in his PT gear. 

If I ever run for office and need to court the NRA vote, 

I guess I have just the right photo for my campaign.

Kim Jong-il and his favorite girls.

Hope to Teach For America?

Just one minute and twenty six seconds shy of the the deadline, I submitted my Teach For America application.

Thought I was cutting it close?

Hwanhi, my roommate, hit "send" one minute and sixteen seconds after me.

I hope TFA will not discriminate against procrastinators like us. After all, it stands for equal opportunity right?

For those of you not familiar with Teach For America, here's a little something:

Happy Love Day!

I don't understand why some people hate Valentine's Day. They mutter "Happy Single Awareness Day (SAD)" and wear black, determined to reverse the tide of romantic pinks or passionate reds. Awareness Days have a bad connotation in my mind - AIDs awareness day, Autism awareness day, Hunger awareness day . . . in short, somehow singledom has been designated a disease or a widespread phenomenon that the UN is supposed to eradicate by 2015. To me, Valentine's Day isn't only reserved for lovers and couples - it's for everybody. It is this wonderful day to celebrate love, in any form and with anyone.

I think this is the first year since eighth grade that I haven't had a boyfriend or received presents from boys on Valentine's Day. I suppose that's not a surprise when things end shortly before. Rather than feeling depressed as many of my friends, and to some extent even I, expected me to be, I ended up really enjoying Valentine's Day. In the place of romantic dinners and cheesy cards, I received long-stemmed roses from the Elder's Quorum, munched on wonderfully decorated sugar cookies (Ty!), and attended a fun Chinese New Year party. I also caught up with old friends and talked to my family. I felt loved. Very loved.

So in the spirit of St. Valentine's, here's a shout out to some of my favorite people:

The Triumvirate: Love these girls!
Of course, we're not complete without Bel.

You mean more to me than you probably realize.

These girls change my life. Literally.

I won't be much without them.

I miss you!
Come back soon - but not too soon :P

I still think you're absolutely wonderful -
Thanks for being my best friend!