5 Years Gone in The Blink of an Eye

     Sorry if this is getting repetitive, it'll stop after this.

     It was November 13, 2006, a little before 6pm.  I was on my way to my basketball practice at Oakland Terrace; I was running late.  As soon as my mom and I turned onto Strathmore it became clear that we were going to be way later than originally anticipated.  There was a traffic jam on that road caused by an accident, all I remember thinking was how mad coach was going to be at me.  The actual practice has long-since escaped my memory.  I was happy to see that on the way home the traffic was all gone, I made it back in record time.
Next Scene:
     I was downstairs playing Neopets, and then my brother comes to the top of the stairs.  Our conversation went exactly, not somewhat, like this:
"Do you know what happened tonight"
"What happened where?"
"The accident"
"What happened?"
"Luke died"
...

     And that was it. The rest is one huge blur. Five years ago today someone older than my died.  Today, a 12 year old boy died five years ago; I am four years older than he will ever be.  I don't get to say this out loud a lot, maybe once a year, but I miss Luke Carter-Schelp and that is one day that I will never forget.

It's a love-hate type of thing.

     I know everyone always says that you should tell your friend if someone their dating is totally obnoxious and what not, but is that really necessary? Here's what I think:
You don't have to like every person your friend goes out with, but you should like what they do to the friend.  Each person has individual quirks, pet peeves, and obsessions; it's natural.  So just because your likes and dislikes don't match up perfectly with those of your best friend, that's not an excuse to bring them down every chance you get.
      My best friend in the whole world is currently in a relationship with this guy who she met at a dance.  Now I have personally gone back and forth on this relationship more times than a ping pong ball during a really intense game.  He's not my favorite person in the world and I have never really refrained from making my feelings known (in my defense I think she deserves something along the lines of perfection); until now that is.  While thinking about the things that make me dislike him I realized this: he isn't forced to like me just like I'm not forced to like him, all we're required to do is like my friend.  When I took a step back I thought about how happy he makes her (most of the time) and what a good person she has become because of all the things she has learned while dating him.  That's when it hit me that I do approve of him as her boyfriend, I may never want to be friends with him, but I do approve.
     It's weird the way friendship works, you define the standards for someone else's happiness.  When you meet someone who has changed your life, all you want is the best for them; you have to realize however, that your best and their best are two totally different things.  Ultimately, as long as they're happy in the moment with how things are, you should be grateful to whatever makes them this way.  That's how I am.  I am grateful that my friend is happy and I am grateful the he makes her so.  I'm grateful that she met him and I'm grateful that she has thus far ignored all the rude things I have said.  All in all, whether I can stand him or not, I am grateful for him, and that's all that matters.