Sunday Night With John: Let Me Tell You About My Best Friend

Braden and I met on a basketball court 12 years ago when we where both 19. We didn’t get off to the best start. I yelled at him for being a ball hog, informing him this isn’t high school and that we move the ball in college. The next moment I remember with Braden was when he was making fun of me over a Reebok gift card I was bragging about. I’ve always been a sucker for people who can crack jokes.

Braden and I lived together in college the following year and built a ball pit that fit into our dorm room. To say that we swam in a different stream from most of our college’s population would be an understatement. We would stay up late talking about where we wanted our lives to head and what we wanted to accomplish.  Even then, I shared my dream with Braden of being author and public speaker.  We where also in a fun cover band in college together with three different names; 73 Cents Rich, Two Shots Last Later and finally, The Uncle Dannies. Braden introduced to me to my other best friend Kyle who was in the band with us.

Girlfriends and other friends would come and go as we shared the rent in different houses and apartments over the years with one house having an incredible back yard that we turned into a whilffle ball field. As my career grew, Braden offered sound advice and encouragement, and I returned the favor. Braden was instrumental in helping me overcome some of my bigger character flaws, because our late night conversations grew into us exchanging honest and sometimes tough to hear advice.

We found ourselves again reconnecting last Friday night before I helped him move into his new house. It was a conversation over the latest changes to our lives. Braden recently married and is soon to be a father, while I am on the road to being married this upcoming summer. We talked about going through the transition to putting our sigficant others first in our lives.  We talked about the excitement he has about coming a parent and how our lives have changed for the better. We also had to discuss how we can navigate these transitions and continue to stay close friends as our dynamics continue to change.

We both agreed that our new paths deserved a conversation about how to stay in each other lives. Braden and I hashed this just like we always have and the familiar 3 in the morning on the clock appeared again.  Another late night conversation with my best friend about our hopes, dreams, future, and how we plan to include each other.

Every relationships has a beginning, middle, and end and the healthy relationships that last the longest find ways to adapt, change, and communicate to keep things going. Braden and I have found a way to do that over the last 12 years. Life-long friends don’t just happen, they are carved out, and they are cultivated by our actions. Braden will be a part of my life for a long time because the last 12 years have proved he will do the work to ensure the friendship continues the best people always do.