Have you ever to someone who meant so much to you for granted? Okay, maybe it’s just me and people don’t do that. What about this one, have you ever had someone who had your back no matter what? Through the good and the bad? Even when they knew you didn’t deserve such loyalty, they continued to be by your side unwavering. “SOME OF THE BIGGEST THINGS COME FROM THE SMALLEST STARTS”. This exert is about a very special woman who has been a true friend and overlooked every one of my faults. Even when you were ultimately let down by me, your anger was fierce, but you never left my side.
When a woman has true love for you and your wellbeing, there is nothing in the world or in her life that will keep her from looking out for you. I’ve only known this woman for five years and she has done more for me than anyone I know outside of my family. We met on a podcast program where I was a guest speaker to share my story and present my book series The Black Prince. Granted her first impression of me was that I was like any other incarcerated inmate, out to con women for money and the other stigmas inmates get from people outside these walls. It wasn’t until we got into a deep conversion that she found out that I was very well spoken and educated. From there she trusted me enough to let me into her world and I helped her to understand my past and the world I was thrown into at a young age.
At first our interaction was through emails and phone calls, then to video visits, and soon after physical visits. We became so close that we start coming up with special days and themes to keep our relationship strong and interesting. We would read all different types of books together over the phone and have discussions about each chapter. We have movie night where I would give her a list of movies we can rent on our tablets, we’ll pick a movie we like and she’ll rent it at home and I’ll rent the same movie on my tablet, and we’ll watch it together over the phone. Another thing I do for her is I’ll order her several gifts and have a friend of mine place them in various places around where she stays. I will then send her a puzzle that has a coded message as to where she can find each gift, but the best part is that each puzzle is based off my personality, characteristics, and what I enjoy.
Now, that you have a view of how close me and my friend have become, the challenge we faced that threatened to break our friendship was when I started dating a woman that I was talking to for quite some time. This woman that I was with at the time knew about my friend and our relationship, but she felt like it was inappropriate because I was dating her. So, I let my friend know what me and my girl at the time discussed and told her out of respect for her I wanted to keep our contact existing but at a minimal. Of course, my friend was not happy with my decision, and she let me know that in a group of choice words, but she still respected my decision. We still talked on the phone twice a week, and had our video visits, but it didn’t feel the same anymore. I don’t know if it was because all the extra drama in my life that came with me being in a relationship or that I felt like I was losing a part of me (that being my best friend). Then when she started dating again, I felt like I was going to lose a great person in my life because I was catering to someone’s insecurities.
With all this stress that I was going through I took all those emotions and wrote an exert called “RUNNING THE TIGHT ROPE” a short story about a guy who tries to play the fence in life by balancing two different lives, but soon finds out that the more weight you put on one side. You have to put on the other to balance it out. What he doesn’t take into account is what happens when the weight becomes too heavy to hold up while balancing on a thin wire. And I remember it was two days later that my friend sent me a message that she was coming up to visit me. At that time, I had no idea that she had read my exert, and I had no idea that once I walked into that visiting room, she was going to be a basin of tears. When she hugged me, she cried so hard that I had to calm her down so that the visit room officer didn’t think something had happen. I cupped her chin to keep her from hanging her head, she didn’t like people to see her cry. I wanted her to know that I see her for who she was and who she had always been. When she finally calmed down, she asked me what made me write such a beautiful story? I told her how I was feeling about my relationship and how our relationship had become strained and that it all got too much for me, so I needed to vent. At one point in our conversation, she asked me what I wanted to do, and I told her that I wanted my friend back. I told her how much she meant to me, how much she has helped me in my life, how much she changed my views in life, relationships, my goals, what I want out of life, and the future I look forward to having. From then on our relationship have grown to new heights and we are just enjoying every bit of it.
This woman is my superhero, my number one fan, my coach, and my audience. There comes a time in a man’s life were the people on his team need him to not only play with them but also trust in them that they can create plays, corral the team, and help lead the team to not only a win but championship. -TK
