Ramen Noodles

As my husband went off to Skyline for lunch with his mom I stared into my cabinets and wondered what I was going to have for lunch (and before you all judge him, he invited me and I passed...). My eyes scanned soups, rice dishes, and peanut butter and then I stopped on the Ramen. I grabbed the brick and immediately started boiling water.

Ramen Noodles are, quite possibly, the cheapest food around. Heck, you can by 36 of them at Sam's for like $3.50, but that's not what is so special about them. I had a friend I met in elementary school (Stephanie) and whenever we were at her house that is what we had for lunch. I had never had them until she introduced me to that lovely brick-o-noodles. And she never make them according to the package directions. Forget the soup--we just made the noodles, drained them and added the chicken flavor (always chicken--never beef or shrimp or anything remotely not chicken). We ate those things like crazy (ignoring, of course, the fact that they are LOADED with sodium) and, as I stood above my stove today, I wondered where she was and what she was doing.

Stephanie did not have what you would consider an easy life. He older brother had Cerebral Palsy and he dad left when she was in the fourth grade. Her mom remarried, but they never had a lot of money or a lot of things. Steph always made the best of it, though, and she was one of the strongest people I had ever met. Sure, she made mistakes, but we all did, so I never faulted her for it. What I did know was that I trusted her and loved her like she was my own sister. We made up little dances to the Dirty Dancing soundtrack and performed them for her mom and brother. We would stay up all night and talk about nothing. We watched movies like The Rocky Horror Picture Show (singing along, of course) and we never were without something to talk about. She was my number one person for years, but, as we got older, things changed. Her path differed greatly from mine, she became rebellious (as a result if her mom's second marriage) and ended up pregnant right out of high school. We lost touch after that. I saw her a few years ago in Kroger's parking lot. She had three kids in tow and said she was married. She didn't look like the Stephanie I remember--the light was gone from her eyes and she looked tired. I wondered if she ever thought about those carefree days when we danced like idiots and talked about "stupid boys." She said we should get together sometime, but we both walked away without exchanging numbers, knowing that we would never have called anyway.

I envy those of you who have managed to hold on to your friends from the time you were young--those friendships are ones to treasure and hold on to. Those friendships, those people who have stuck by you, supported you, and loved you no matter what are the most important things in the world. Although I have friends now, I do sometimes wax nostalgic about those friends who have vanished into my past...and today all because of Ramen Noodles.