Growing up my parents always tried to explain to me how important friendship is in your life. It wasn’t until the fourth grade that I met one of the best friends I could ever have. Ever since I invited him to come and sit next to me, we have been friends with a lot of good memories. We didn’t start to actually hang out until the fifth grade when we were fortunate enough to have the same teacher again. We started by rollerblading in his backyard on the patio and jumping on the trampoline at all hours of the night. Things were different at my house because I don’t live in the city so we had to find something to do out at my house, and in the sixth grade we started to BMX. We would round up as much change as we could find in the house and ride our bikes to the local store to buy ice cream. That same year I took him snowmobiling for the first time in his life and this brought us even closer. The following year we started to ride dirt bikes together at his grandparent’s house. As time progressed he got his own snowmobile and we would go every weekend when the snow fell until we were riding on dirt. Then once the snow melted, that meant it was time for the dirt bikes to come out of the garage. I can still remember the smell of the exhaust from the bikes when they first fired up, and I can still remember every jump and every turn of the track that we made in his grandparents back yard. As we grew in to the 8th grade it was time for new dirt bikes, and I got one for a birthday present, the same one that he had. Once tenth grade started I got a girlfriend so we stopped hanging out and doing the stuff that we used to in our past. Ride snowmobiles less and less. Go dirt biking less and less. We started to have a separation in our friendship, but we both still knew that we were best friends. As of this year though, I feel that we are starting to get back like the old times. I have been very lucky to have a friend that is always there for me when I need someone. Friendship is an important thing to have because friends will always do things that others will never do for you. Austin is a great example of how people can stay friends through the thick and thin times of your life.