Finding a true friend

Heather Perry / Young adult columnist

School concluded about a month ago. Since then I have recognized the difference between my friends and my acquaintances. It is this simple: I have talked to or spent time with my friends already this summer, which is unlike my acquaintances who I converse with only at school or school functions, but nowhere else.

My summer started out with a week in Reno at the Volleyball Festival with my club team. The most memorable moment with them was after our coach told each of us to eat a banana to help prevent muscle cramps. One of my teammates then asked if a banana would help her “uterus cramps.” I am not kidding. Last year, at the same tournament, she asked what Hawaii’s national anthem was when we played one of their teams.

My teammates and I went shoe shopping, had late night chats eating seven-layer chocolate cake and random conversations during car rides to and from the hotel, but meals were the craziest. With two coaches, 10 girls and their families, we practically took over restaurants.

As a team, we had our picture taken with the Red Robin mascot and another wearing In-and-Out Burger hats. One night we watched “Wipeout” and the Olympic Trials in Red Brick Oven Pizza. Throughout dinner, there was a debate as to how attractive Michael Phelps was; it ranged from “gorgeous” to “You’re kidding, right?” We closed the restaurant that night.

After Volleyball Festival, I returned to Puyallup and spent a week at my best friend’s house while the rest of her family was out of town. We had movie marathons, went to the mall and completed the necessary daily farm chores while finding ways to make them entertaining. We even went on a run together, just for fun. And of course, we talked about anything and everything at all hours of the night.

Then there are the random summer activities with all of my friends ranging from filling up water balloons in the church parking lot and beginning the water fight sooner than planned to seeing the “Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” for the second and third time. I have played Ultimate Frisbee at the park, been to the mall, gone to baseball games and just spent time together talking.

Currently I am in Chicago on a college visit and spending time with friends from the Midwest. I have watched the AVP Crocs Tour, played volleyball, swam in an outdoor pool with a friend and her dog and I still have many more memories to create. Upon my return to Puyallup, I leave almost immediately for Journalism Camp at Central Washington University.

Maybe you are just as busy as I am or you have not left town yet. Nevertheless, who have you heard from this summer? These memories with your friends last a lifetime; there is still time to create more.

Heather Perry is a proud senior at Rogers High School, a volleyball player with a six-inch surgical scar on her ankle and a teen who doesn’t always text on her cell phone.