Best friends are everywhere. BFFs are the newest incarnation. But what really is a best friend. Who is your best friend.

I have had many best friends over the years, mostly in the past, not so much these days.  I think my first best friend was my sister and my most recent best friend is my mom. Some time in my tween time my cousin. So, for this exercise, let's discount family.

My first best friend. That is a hard question. I have a hard time thinking back Laura or Kris or Pam or Laura.  Laura (the first) is the one I met first, but I find it hard to remember much about her. She had long straight blond hair and I only remember her smiling. Both my sister and I got the mumps from her.

Kris lived up the street from us with her four sisters and brother. We played all the time rode the school bus and spent hours and hours together, sleepovers and games.

Pam, I met in the Girl Scouts. We went to the same school, had some classes together and spent lots of time together. When I moved away during High School, we kept in touch with letters and I even spent a week with her after graduation.

Laura (the second) and I met in the 5th grade. We had lots of classes together through middle school and we had a lot in common. We wrote a couple of articles/essays together, one of which even made it into the newspaper. We kept in touch through the years.

Best friends are hard to come by and as time passes old friendships, if not cared for regularly, fade. Facebook, Classmates and the other social sites help keep friends in touch. But is reading about old friends getting stuck in traffic or making a batch of cookies really staying in touch? Maybe something more is needed.