Remember the scene from When Harry Met Sally when Meg Ryan says to Billy Crystal during her pity party for one, “And I’m going to be 40!”

“When?” he asks.

“Someday,” she says.

“In eight years!” he reminds her.

Yesterday was BFF’s birthday, and he turned 36. I found myself thinking back to when we met; I was 20, he was 21. We’ve known each other for 15 years, and yesterday I told him I hope we go another 15 — if not 15 x 3.

When I look back 15 years…wow. So much change has happened, and yet not so much at the same time. I still love hair color, but I’ve graduated from the boxed hair color in Aisle 7 at CVS to salon color. I still love to write, but then it was poetry and now it’s plays, blogs and the like. I had the best time with him then at silly places like Claim Jumper or Starbucks or camping in the middle of nowhere, and these days it’s sushi, dive bars or a game of pool. Except now he’s living across the country, but no matter — the shenanigans will pick up where they left off soon enough, I’m sure.

Tonight’s post is short and sweet. There are probably a handful of people that each of us can picture by our side as the years roll on, and he’s one of mine. Yes, I’m going to be 50, but not for another 15 years. Regardless of when it comes, I hope my BFF is still right next to me, no matter how many changes the next 15 years bring.

Maybe he’ll have less hair, and maybe I’ll have a big, happy spare tire around my mid-section that I’ll be trying to get rid of by entertaining my 23rd round of Nutrisystem. Maybe we’ll be neighbors living in Southern California again, or maybe we’ll be farther apart than we are now. Maybe we’ll still be going to races and dive bars together, or maybe we’ll be meeting infrequently for a civilized glass of wine to catch up. Maybe one or both of us will have a spouse, maybe we’ll be single. Regardless of the maybes that can add dimension and color to a life, they’ll only be adding to what he’s already brought to mine.

Tonight I am thankful for the people who stand the test of time, and who wind up in the plans and things we picture ourselves doing next year, the year after, in five years or even ten years down the line. We’d probably all have a good enough time ticking off those items on our to-do lists by ourselves or with a new friend or two, but wouldn’t it be more fun to reminisce about “that time 30 years ago”?

I agree.