The year was 1987. I was 17 and having the time of my life. I worked at Ash Rapids Camp. It was a fishing camp where tourists visited in the summer. There I met my best friend Joelle. She was the same age as me and liked the same things. We were inseparable. There were two other girls there that did the same things as us--clean cabins, waitressing and what ever else had to be done. We had our days off once a week but never on the same day.

Then came the day Joelle and I got to go to town together. The camp was not busy so Roger, our boss, gave us the next two days off. We gathered up our things, jumped on the boat and were on our way. Forty-five minutes later we reached the marina, which was not yet to town. That’s when we decided to thumb it. We weren’t there for too long before a very nice old man stopped and picked us up.

He was very curious about our relationship and why we considered ourselves best friends, which we mentioned to him earlier. We went on about how much fun we have together and all the things we do to kill time. The old man looked a little puzzled before he came back with a statement that even today I think about. He said, "A best friend is someone who knows the worst about you but loves you anyway." Joelle and I ended up having a really good time. But the old man did change my way of thinking and gave me something that’s nice to know and to take with me through the rest of my years.

Zeta Kennedy

Student at Reading and Writing Centre
Malaspina University-College, Cowichan Campus
Canada

Copyright © Zeta Kennedy, 2002