A Love Letter To My High School Friends

I love spring. The sun shines a little brighter, the leaves return greener, the flowers bloom bigger, and the sky appears just a little bit bluer. It’s a wonderful time, full of joy and new life. Coming out of the winter—suffering from the cold and the cabin fever—the season change is always much anticipated and welcomed. 

All of this growth and change and happiness brings me back to the spring of 2013 and makes me miss my girls. Even two years later, those months leading up to and following our graduation were some of the happiest of my life. We were overwhelmed by the combined feeling of being both invincible and miniscule. We were top dogs, having conquered the challenge of high school. Conversely, we were Bambi-eyed children getting ready to head into the world on our own. Having the rest of our lives ahead of us and the whole world as our oyster, we shared our hopes and dreams and our views about life and love and who we wanted to become.

This spring is different, but the feelings are still the same. I am so proud of the growth each of us has gone through and every journey we have chosen. Our distance has many changed things, but not the love we share for each other. The aspirations we held when leaving home two years ago have become realities and have lead to new goals. Our experiences have enhanced the conversations we hold about the meaning and purpose of life and love and personhood.

Everyone says your high school relationships do not last into college, but (being what is arguably the best little gang in the world) we have proven that expectation wrong. Transitioning from seeing each other every day to only seeing each other on breaks (or even less often) caused the dynamic of our friendship to change, but never broke our bond. The separation only made our relationships stronger by teaching to adapt and adjust to life’s challenges.

I miss my girls in the spring, but in the best possible way. It is not a sadness, but an intense joy for having such wonderful people still be a presence in my life. I long for the day when we see each other again, but I don’t have to worry about how long until that day comes. Our forever friendship is impervious to the days or weeks or months or years between our visits; all the memories and feelings rush to the surface no matter the time passed. We are the best people I know.