Most people have a best friend when they're younger. And over the years, people tend to grow apart or make new friends, and those bonds can tear or splinter. I consider myself lucky when I say that I've had the same two best friends since I was a little kid. And I don't consider myself naive when I say that I truly believe we will remain best friends for the rest of our lives. Our bond is that strong.
Friendship is an interesting thing to talk about, because it is actually a culmination of things like affection, trust, respect, and even love. Throughout history, friendships have made and destroyed peoples careers, families, and even lives. There are so many good examples of friendships in history that have gone wrong and turned out with hate, and greed, and carnage that it can seem as though all the famous friendships end out bad. For example, think Henry II and Thomas Becket.
But my all-time favorite historical friendship (an odd classification, I know) is a five-way relationship (possibly a quintship?) that didn't end in murder or the stealing of a crown . Mary Queen of Scots had four friends — all named Mary, as well — who lived with her throughout her childhood in France during the mid-1500s. The four other Mary's — Mary Seton, Mary Fleming, Mary Livingston, and Mary Beaton — were chosen to be the Queen Mary's companions when she was very young for rather political reasons. However, they grew to be an extremely tight-knit group. Their relationship far surpassed a mini-Queen and her mini-ladies-in-waiting; they were best friends. And they continued to be close for the rest of their lives, even after most of them got married and became Duchesses and Countesses. Mary Seton even stayed with Mary (the Queen) while she was imprisoned, all the way until Queen Mary's execution.
My first question, as a girl who has been though Middle School, is how could all five girls get along so well? Some may say that it is obvious this friendship has been wrongly glorified; they didn't really like each other, the Four Marys were all jealous of the Queen Mary, etc. But all the historical evidence points to the five of them actually being ridiculously close friends. Which begs me to ask the question: are there some friendships that are just that extraordinary? And am I a part of one of those myself?
I'm seventeen, and I'm a senior. Ergo, I'm going to college next year. My two best friends and I are not applying to any of the same schools. Not one. We've already had a few, oddly emotional conversations about leaving each other next year. Being the optimist I am, I'm placating my anxiety by choosing to believe that there are extraordinary friendships, and that I have one. Going to college is a terrifying experience for the most psychologically stable of us — the classes, the parties, the people, the professors, the homework, the papers, the roommates, the laundry. But what most people struggle with the most, like my friends and me, is leaving behind the support system you have been carefully crafting since Kindergarten and before. Leaving behind the people you know. The people you love. But, over all else, we fear losing touch, being out of sight and out of mind.
But honestly, if Mary Queen of Scots and her Four Marys could do it in the 16th century, we should be able to stay connected in the age of Facebook and texting. Right...?
< Histrophile >
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