The best of the best

Meet Mel. (She's probably going to kill me for using this picture, but, whatev. She's two states away, whats she really gonna do about it?)
She's my best friend. And my sister, not by blood, but something much thicker. She is, I can honestly say, one of the greatest people I know. I don't deserve her, you'd be lucky to know her.
We grew up together, in the ghe-tto, Sacramento. Met when we were 4(ish) and the rest is history.
Her dad was like a dad to me when we were 4, 5, 6. More so than my own. I loved him like he was my own, and I know he loved me. He passed away 15 years ago, and he's very missed. I wish he was here to see that amazing woman his daughter has grown up to be, but I know he's watching from up above. Before that, we were together all. the. time. Unless she was at her moms. We rode the bus together. We ran around, caused trouble, got into things, gave our parents all kinds of grey hair I'm sure. All of the best childhood memories I have include her, and often times us getting in huge trouble. Our apartment complex was a cul-de-sac and we used to ride on the back of the ice cream truck as it went through the parking lot. One or twice, I beat someone up for picking on her. We decided to use my moms nail polish as face paint once, she wasn't very happy. Then there was the time I was jumping on her bed while she was cleaning underneath it, and it collapsed. She'll say I tried to kill her, really it was an accident. It didn't matter what we were doing, we were always together. And more often than not, no one else was included, because we were all each other needed. I did not have a great childhood, but those times with her are always what I look back on.
Things changed right before my 7th birthday. I remember my mom waking me up and putting us (my brother and I, maybe?) in the car to go somewhere...grandmas, maybe? Anyways. I just remember her asking me if I had anything over at Melyssas. I thought, "duh mom, I practically live there. Like all my good Barbies are there, and my P.J. Sparkles doll. And my matching polka-dot outfit!" But I'm pretty sure all I said was yea. And then she told me Dave died. And all I can remember in the days and weeks following that morning is that Mel was gone. I could not see her. Eventually she ended up with her mom, and we were back in touch, maybe months later. I can't recall anything from that year, really. I was a very confused 7 year old, and I missed my best friend.
Skip ahead to a few weeks after my 8th birthday. My parents were back together, and we were packing up to move to Washington state. For a lot of kids, thats where the story ends. You drift away from the best friend you once knew, and make new ones. But by some miracle of God, we stayed in touch. I still have letters we wrote back and forth. And year after year, every summer when I went down to visit grandparents, I made sure I got to spend time with my best friend, making new memories. We lost touch a few times, went a few summers without seeing one another, but always found our way back.
She's the first person I go to when I have good news, and bad news. When I'm sad, I know she'll cheer me up. When I'm mad, she'll tell me to get over it. I can always count on her to tell it like it is, she's never been one to sugar coat anything. She's the very best friend I'll ever have. She's an amazing mother. friend. sister. daughter. I know she'll always be there when I need her, despite whats going on in her own life. I've hurt her, and she's forgiven me. I miss her like crazy and wish we lived closer. I hope she always knows how much she means to me. She's my other half, my partner in crime. And I have no idea where I'd be without her. I love you sis!