As I am starting my junior year of college, I find myself thinking about where I was in my life four years ago when I was about to embark on my junior year of high school. As a rising high school junior, I was completely heartbroken. The summer after my sophomore year of high school, my first boyfriend and I broke up. I was devastated to say the least because he had, over the year we were together, become someone that I relied on and cared for deeply. He was my best friend.
My first serious boyfriend and I had dated for a year, and when we broke up, I thought that my world was absolutely crumbling because I thought that I had lost my very best friend. I was confused, young and didn’t know what to do. That was four years ago, and as I start my junior year of college, I have been thinking about that a lot. I’ve been thinking about the relationship that I have forged with my ex since we broke up four years ago and how important that relationship is to me.
Four years later, my ex and I are actually really, really close friends, and I’m so thankful that we are. He has become someone in my life that I lean on when I need support, and even though we aren’t in constant contact and don’t always see each other, I know that if I need him, he will be there for me. I have called on him so many times in my life since our breakup, and he has come through for me every time. There is something so good about knowing that I’ll always have a friend that is there for me and knows me so well. That is something that I really value in my friendship with him, because we were able to put aside our history of previously dating in order to be important people in each other’s lives.
Having gone through that breakup with my ex and then realizing that we could be really close friends really taught me that when something doesn’t work out, something better might fall into place. And a lot of people question that close friendship that we have together because, I guess, it is natural for people to speculate about the ~status~ of our friendship and maybe they assume that there is more than friendship, but there really isn’t. I think about what my life would have been life if I had continued to date him for four more years, and I can’t imagine what I would be like today. I don’t think I would be as confident or independent as I am today. I will never regret dating my first ~serious~ boyfriend because we have created such an awesome friendship that I wouldn’t have created otherwise. He knows me so well, and part of that comes with the fact that we used to date each other. It is such a complex and unique friendship, but it is a friendship that I value a lot and I wouldn’t change for the world!
