Few people can say that they’ve had the same friend through the entirety of their lives, from grade school all the way into college years. I have, and the journey we’ve been on has taught me many lessons about life, loyalty and friendship.
Andrea Favazza, left, and Lorraine Linson became friends in kindergarten and, despite moving into different interests and circles later in school, they managed to remain close friends even today, proving that friendship is more about experiences than similarities. This photo was taken in 2019 as they were graduating from Fort Zumwalt North High School. The two are posing underneath the tree that was their favorite meeting place on their elementary school playground. Photo by Ann Linson
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I don’t remember much from kindergarten, but there is one moment from that year that I will never forget. It was the third day of class, and the girl sitting behind me was wearing a dress with butterflies on it that had caught my eye. We hadn’t met yet, so I took the opportunity to introduce myself. “I really like your dress,” I said, “what’s your name?” “I’m Andrea,” she replied. “Hi Andrea. I’m Lorraine. Do you want to be my friend?” I didn’t know it then, but I had just met the girl who would become one of my oldest and dearest companions. Our early friendship was defined by our similarities: We both had brown hair, we both liked the color blue, we both had birthdays in April. It was a simple way of defining our relationship, but our elementary school friendship was simple. It consisted of recess games, summer play dates and dragon-themed birthday parties. The simplicity began to wear off in middle school, but Andrea and I continued to stick together as recess time was replaced with shared art classes and playdates became weekend sleepovers. In our eyes, it was us against the rest of the school and we liked it that way. Things changed in high school when our differences began to eclipse our similarities: Andrea liked graphic design, I preferred traditional art media; Andrea wanted to work with computers, I wanted to teach English; Andrea mostly wanted to spend time with a few close friends, while I was getting involved with my church youth group and the school quiz bowl team. We never fought, exactly, we just sort of drifted apart, each of us spending more and more time getting invested in people and activities that we felt best suited our interests and personalities. By the time I left for college, I was sure that Andrea and I were destined to become little more than casual acquaintances, and I set my sights on finding new friends at college. Then the pandemic struck. Confined at home with my family, I was eager to spend some time with friends, but I wasn’t particularly close with anyone from MoBap (yet), so when Andrea called me up and asked me if I’d like to have lunch, I immediately said “yes” in spite of our recent distancing. At lunch, we reminisced about our past school experiences and laughed and joked just as we had before. It went so well that Andrea suggested getting together again to celebrate our birthdays (both of which had been uneventful because we had been in quarantine) and soon we were hanging out once a week, talking, eating, and (once businesses reopened) searching second-hand stores to find additions to my comic book collection and Andrea’s CD collection. It was through these weekly meetings that I learned one of the greatest lessons of our friendship, that differences can bring vitality to a relationship as long as they are celebrated. Andrea and I do not always do or like the same things, but we can still both enjoy them if we respect each other and find some things to compromise on. Now, Andrea and I call each other once a week to talk about classes, our personal well-being, and whatever else happens to interest us that day. Andrea keeps an eye out for my favorite comic book titles when she’s out thrift shopping (even though she’s a DC fan and I exclusively read Marvel) and I often peruse the CD section of resale stores (even though Andrea accidentally broke my car’s CD player). When we both happen to be in town, we’ll drive to the mall blasting the early 2000s music we’ve loved since our elementary school days, then we’ll head over to Andrea’s house to indulge our love of fantasy with a game of “Magic: the Gathering” and share a home-cooked meal with her parents. It’s the perfect combination of novelty and nostalgia. I have many great friends here at MoBap, but I’ll always have a special place in my heart for the girl in the butterfly dress. I cherish the moments we shared together in grade school and I look forward to making more memories with her in college and beyond.
Triston Buckley 
Emily Retzer