The Friends We Lose, The Ones We Keep

By

Sometimes, the friends you make in elementary school are there for your entire journey of life. They become women of honor at your wedding, and you become theirs. You journey through awkward teenage years together. You’re there for a whole lot of firsts. You’re there for heartbreak and heartache. You stand beside them when death hits. You hug them when they tell you that they’re going to be new parents.

It’s a special kind of friendship, the ones you make in childhood that come with you into adulthood.

They have seen you at your worst, and your best, and every mood in between. It’s hard to hide things from them – it’s beautiful that you don’t even want to.

It’s a special kind of friendship. It’s something money cannot buy. It is truly one of life’s blessings and greatest treasures.

Sometimes, the friends you make in elementary school come with you into middle school. And high school. And then college hits, and something happens. You’re not really sure what it is – but they go left and you go right. And you’re no longer walking together.

It hurts at first because it’s confusing.

And then your pride and ego come into play, and you don’t put the work in anymore. And it just stops. The words, and calls, and plans…they just sort of end.

And then time passes, and you can’t even remember what happened.

But you’re not hurt anymore. You’ve stopped caring about trying to figure it out. You’re able to think of them and smile. You’re able to think of them, and hope that they are well. You’re able to see a post or a picture come across your social media feed and say, “good for them.”

You think – I’m happy they found love. I’m happy they found happiness. I’m happy they found themselves.

And then you whisper words of thanks. You say it out to the universe, knowing that you’re probably not going to ever hang out again – but that’s ok, cause you’re still grateful. You’re grateful for the things that you learned alongside them. You’re grateful that theirs was the face that was there for some of the most precious memories of your youth. You know that they are not around anymore. They won’t be coming over for dinner on Saturday night, and they won’t be at your wedding or hold your kid, but they still had a hand in filling your heart, and making you, you.

And that’s kind of special, too.