#30daysofme - #3

You thought I abandoned this challenge 2 days in, didn't you?

Fear not. I only took the weekend off. Fooled ya!

Day 3 is a picture of you and your friends.

My computer is currently dead - and of course I don't have an external harddrive. So I just lost all my pictures, files, etc, from the last 2 and a half years. It's heartbreaking, in a first world problem kind of way. Truly.

I had to steal this from Shawn's facebook - taken in 2006. I'm 19, Tat is 20, and Shawn is 21.

Mostly I'm struck by how young we look. We're BABIES!

There are absolutely no words how much these two people mean to me. When I think of how long we've been friends - of how much we've gone through - both collectively and as individuals, it's just mind boggling.

Statistics would tell you that we probably shouldn't still be friends. I know I'm not friends with 98% of the people I met while being a homeless crackhead. And that's probably for the best, ya know?

But these two are unshakeable. We've overcome the odds - you know that once you're addicted to drugs, you have 3 options? Clean, jail, and dead. Life is kind of bleak until you're clean.

But we did it. We were high-school drop-outs, homeless, addicted to drugs, you name it, we were it. And now? Tat is currently finishing her practical nursing diploma with plans to continue next fall for her Bachelor of Nursing. She's also looking into joining the Armed Forces under their ROTP. She has an 8 year old daughter, with whom she shares custody with her father.

Shawn just finished his diploma in social service worker last spring, and has plans to continue with his Bachelor of Social Work at Carleton next fall.

We all left home prematurely - Tat because she was placed in a group home at the age of 15, Shawn because his mom rejected the fact that he's gay, and of course you know my story.

It's been a really long road with its share of potholes on our respective journeys to where we are today, but so far we're making it. I couldn't be prouder to call them my friends. So much love.