To The Friends Who Have Made Us Who We Are

By

Earth, my friends, is an awfully lonely place to call home without at least one best friend to call your own. Maybe she’s someone you’ve known since preschool, since 5th grade, since freshmen year of college; maybe she has 4 legs and a tail. Whoever she is, it is important that she exists.

She is the only other person who knows you like your mother knows you, who knows you like your lover knows you. She is the first person that you think of wasting time with on a sunny day, she doesn’t look at you funny for having Taylor Swift and Nas on the same CD. She shares a mutual love for mixed drinks, talking shit on your ex, and boys with tattoos.

As teens, the two of you were inseparable. Now you’re both grown and things are different, yet nothing’s changed. You both have big girl jobs, serious relationships, other friends, and important commitments. Yet somehow, in the midst of all the chaos, all the growing up you both have done, all the curves life has thrown at the two of you, your friendship remains natural, it remains easy, it remains true.

Distance and time do not threaten your bond. You can go days, even weeks, without seeing each other. Then one day you make a bangin’ dessert, so naturally, you send her the recipe, you finish a good book, so you mail it to her in hopes that she’ll fall in love with the characters the same way you did, you see your ex-lover with his new girlfriend and somehow you are still breathing, you must let her know you did not completely fall apart, your 3 year old said “oh shit” and although you knew you should feel a bit guilty and be more cautious of your mouth, you couldn’t help but laugh and fill your best friend in. It’s the fact that you think of her and she thinks of you after those little quirky moments, you keep each other there in spirit; this is why distance and time matter so little.

This is a thank you letter to my best friend, each and every one of them. Thank you for binge watching One Tree Hill with me time and time again, for not looking at me differently after that break up when I fit 27 actual Doritos in my mouth at once, for slapping me across the face that one time when I told you that I felt worthless without him. Thank you for always talking shit to my face and never behind my back, for being there for the big stuff, the little stuff, and everything in between, but most importantly, for never leaking pictures of us from the 6th grade.