I am still in contact with most of these people.

• Katie: She lived down the street from me in Minnesota. She was my very first friend & we're still in contact to this day. We don't talk a lot, but it's nice to know she's there. When we were little we'd put on concerts in her backyard, her mom would make us these frosting graham crack sandwiches, we'd watch The Wonder Years constantly. Her favorite movie was & still is Dirty Dancing - we'd play Barbie's too that & she'd always be Penny. She will be a bride's maid at my wedding one day.
• Tricia: Also a friend of mine from Minnesota. We were inseparable for many years. I have a lot of memories of us ... going to the local fast food joint to get Ring Pop's & Extra Sugarless gum. We had a lot of great times.
• Krystal: My first friend in Las Vegas & my best friend in my 1st grade class. She always used to wear her hair in french braids. I would always pay close attention to how they were done & I eventually taught myself how to do them. I don't know what happened to her ...
• Erica: She lived in my neighborhood & we were also very hard to separate. We eventually moved to different sides of the city, but remained friends up until the end of elementary school. I have a lot of memories watching Ladybugs, Child's Play & Dirty Dancing with her. I learned what cancer meant when we were friends. I didn't realize how much they would come in to play a few years later.
• Claire: We were inseparable for many years ... she was like the epitome of a best friend. My grandpa called her Clarabelle - I'll never forget that. She was like another sister & much like family. She'd spend entire weekends at my house & we'd play house, Barbie's & watch all these weird movies over & over, we'd go to the gas station a lot. We didn't remain such good friends after my sister's illness.
• Danielle: We had a lot of fun as friends & I remember a lot about our friendship - the good & bad, which is both good & bad. I don't think she ever realized how badly I was hurt by her choices, but I still remember how it felt. I realized what a good person/friend was during that time.
• Aarika: I don't remember how long we were friends or how we became friends, but we were close ... fast. My sister & I would spend the night at her house & we'd watch The Nightmare Before Christmas so many times. We lost touch when we both moved out of Rivera Ranch. She was to move to New Mexico & I moved across town.
• Jennifer: She was my "at school" best friend. I always had different friends at school & different friends at home because I rarely when to a school that all the neighborhood kids went too.
• Amanda: We were friends in 7nth grade. We only were friends that one year because I was taken out of that school & went to a school twenty miles away from my home. I will never forget her for many reasons. She was such an awesome friend to me. I was also talking to her on the phone when my sister took her last breath & passed away. I will never forget that, or her.
• Giselle: We were only friends until we were done with 8th grade, but it's not like that was choice. I lived on the other side of town & we were going to different high schools. I am glad I had her to help me through the toughest thing I have ever gone through. I wonder whatever happened to her.