The Friday Five
Filed Under: Thriving
Who was your first best friend?
CLB, aka Carrie, who I’ve mentioned before. We were pretty much inseparable from ages 8 to 14 (I think?? Boy, I am getting old…) My best memories of time spent with Carrie include endless swimming, the Pizza Pan, Centipede, the Moose Club, dancing recitals and competitions (remember that street fair thing??) and all the teenage-girl “rites of passage.” It was very cool that Carrie had her own private bathroom off her bedroom - lots of shaving and makeup and hair experimentation went on there.
Who have been some of the most influential people in your life?
Who has shaped my life and made a difference in who I am? The single most influential person in my life is my husband. Others include: my children; my parents; my sister; my step-mom; Carrie; JR - my best friend from high school; JC - my college roommate and best friend; HS - my wonderful piano teacher and friend, as well as her husband; and Trixie & Lance.
Do you usually have one best friend or a lot of close friends?
In my younger years, I always had one best friend. I didn’t like sharing. I wanted it to be an exclusive relationship and I got jealous when my best friend had “other friends.” As an adult, I don’t have a best friend and I miss that in my life. I do have several close friends, but no one girlfriend that I can share my deepest thoughts with. So, I’ll just share with the world on this blog… 
Do you believe people of the opposite sex can be best friends and not lovers?
No. Men always want sex. They are wired that way. It just can’t happen.
Have you ever fallen in love with a friend?
Yes, my husband.
You can find more Friday Five topics at the Daily Meme.
PHAT = Parenting, Homeschooling And Technology. That about sums up my life at the moment.
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Fluke Starbucker | Aug 19, 2005 | Reply
Hey Shirley, cool new concept here - I’ll try to answer these next week… but to quickly answer the querstion you axed in my blog before I’m gone:
This is Michele. She has a nice blog, and quite the following, and hosts this comment game thing. Look for the post titled “The three day Meet N’ Greet” - It will explain how it works. Just be sure to post comments as the representative from whichever one of your sites you’d like to see more traffic at.
ttfn, and I was just joking, I know you’re Shannon!
Carrie | Aug 23, 2005 | Reply
Hey, Shannon, I just read your first “Friday Five”, and wanted to let you know that you made me smile. You were my very first best friend too, and since I never had any siblings, the closest thing I had to a sister when I was growing up. So many good memories -thanks for making my day!
trixie | Aug 23, 2005 | Reply
Okay, I’m 4 days late, but thought I’d answer your Friday Five since I have a few moments…
1. Who was your first best friend?
as I was growing up in central PA. His name was Ben and he was a couple years younger than me. We played together all the time and practically shared each other’s parents. I’m still in touch with his parents, though we moved away from them when I was 8. Ben now lives in MA, and I last saw him a few years ago.
My first best friend was probably my neighbor (when I was aged 5 to
2. Who have been some of the most influential people in your life?
My husband (Lance) has been far and away the # 1 influence in my life. I met him in college and he challenged my thinking in ways nobody else ever had and opened my mind to ideas I had never before encountered. He’s my soul-mate and my very best friend. The second most influential person has probably been my mother… but she takes such a distant second, that it hardly seems worth discussing.
3. Do you usually have one best friend or a lot of close friends?
At this point in my life, I can only imagine having one best friend — my husband. I can’t imagine being as intimate with anyone else. Before falling in love, I guess I typically had a small group of good friends… none of whom I’d be able to choose as my one “best friend”.
4. Do you believe people of the opposite sex can be best friends and not lovers?
Hmmm… this is a hard question for me to answer as I think that a single, intimate, sexual relationship (which characterizes the best of marriages) sort of trumps all other relationships. That is, I can’t imagine *being* a lover to a person who was *not* my best friend and I can’t imagine having a best friend of the opposite sex with whom I wouldn’t ultimately *want* to be committed lovers.
My best of girlfriends now do not hold the same meaning in my life as such friends did before I fell in love with Lance. Once Lance became my best friend, I fell in love with him, and my other friendships became less significant in my life. Not that I don’t love and value my friends… my friendships are extremely important and meaningful to me. And I love making new friends as well. But in Lance I already get all the benefits of a single, devoted, and faithful best friend.
5. Have you ever fallen in love with a friend?
Yes. My husband.
Richard | Sep 1, 2005 | Reply
“Do you believe people of the opposite sex can be best friends and not lovers?
No. Men always want sex. They are wired that way. It just can’t happen.”
As a guy I can tell you that this is a myth I’ve heard before.