casey was the type of girl that liked to be alone, but craved peer interaction.
in her elementary school years, she struggled with knowing how to make real friends. she tried everything...hair cuts, cool clothes and nice shoes. however, she never really was accepted by the crowd she yearned to be part of.
middle school was a different story. casey found the girls she knew would be her "forever friends." they'd go to high school and college together, marry men that were all friends and have kids that they would name after each other. everything was great and she had no reason to doubt that their weekends watching movies together would come to a screeching hault.
when she reached high school, casey struggled again. her freshman year was filled with people that would come and go. she was unsure of her ability to be a friend and be accepted by another person or group. sophmore year casey sat with one other person at lunch. she was lonely and searching for who she was. junior year was no different. she dated, had a few friends, but nothing really "concrete" and definitely nothing that made her feel sure that they accepted her for who she was. senior year casey thought she figured out the secret to friendship. she had a wonderful group of girls that she enjoyed spending time with and it seemed that they enjoyed her friendship too. later, she made the catostrophic mistake of introducing this group of friends to another group of "acquaintances." they all became friends and left casey in the lurch. casey then realized that senior year always comes to an end.
casey entered college the fall after graduation as many do. she did go to a commuter school for 2 years and then on to a larger university. this meant that all her "senior sisters" would move to other cities or states and she would stay home. alone again. nothing ever really felt right throughout college. she felt invisible and still desperately wanted those friends that would ALWAYS be there.
after college casey struggled to get a job. the job market was miserable and so was she. she found what she enjoyed and wanted to do it. after many years an opportunity came to her and she gladly accepted without hesitation. her first few months of her new job lead her to a friend who proved to be the most toxic. this person would build casey up and provide support when she felt like it. but when casey REALLY needed a good friend, there was no one there. so, casey isolated herself. after a few months a new person came into the building. casey was hesitant, as she always is, to approach this person. after finding the courage, she did. years went by and they were still friends. they even had a third friend join the group. casey was leary throughout the entire friendship because of her past experiences. her doubts soon turned into reality. the two friends she thought she had found started to shun her for reasons she didn't know.
yes, casey is not perfect. she often does things and says things that are often miscontrued because people never stay long enough to realize all of her insecurities and accept them. if people were to truly become casey's friend, they would find a huge heart, strong loyalty and a vault ready to hold secrets. unfortunately, no one ever stayed long enough.
eventualy casey did find a wonderful man and ended up marrying him. they do everything together and enjoy every minute of it. casey woke up one day and realized that her husband is the epitome of friendship. he loves her when she's critical, whiny, complaining, laughing, joking and also crying. she did often wonder why he was so loyal. how could he love her with all of her faults? she's never experienced that before with anyone that wasn't related. it was wonderful. she knew she had to work at it, but also knew that he was willing to do the same.
so, even though casey doesn't have "girl friends," she has a forever friend in her husband.
