null and void are best friends

"A person whom one knows well and is fond of..." Sounds harmless enough, no? This was not my experience with friends. Most brought problems. Unnegotiated terrain like compromise, scrutiny, judgment, accommodation, and accountability came along with the title. Strange experiences accompanied friendship. I became more comfortable with being alone very early. Chaos reigned in my childhood homes. Plural. We were a nomadic clan headed up by two very unstable parents. My father never quite caught on that no matter where he went, there he was. At least 13 schools in 6 states lay between kindergarten and high school graduation. Honesty and Integrity were not a part of my family's dynamic. My parents lied to us and each other with such frequency that I thought of truth as situational. Parameters were fluid and could be manipulated with no consequence. My father would often make promises, such as, "Next weekend, we'll go to the circus." The next weekend would come and I would ask when we would be departing for the circus, and my Dad would say,” What circus? I never said that!" Rules were established one day and forgotten the next. One day we reveled in our heathen status and the next week we were being enrolled in Christian schools and forced to wear skirts every day. My mother took on different tones of voice, varying degrees of Southern accent, different mannerisms and behaviors during these times. People were confusing. Coloring books were my refuge. The lines were definite. If you closed the book and re-opened it, the image remained intact. The colors were to stay contained within them. That was a rule that did not change. That I knew for sure.