Coming to college teaches you a lot of things, but one of the most heartbreaking is that you were only friends with some people because you spent 8 hours together for 5 days a week. The distance and the stress of our new whirlwind lives mean that only some friendships survive the storm - but those that do become so much more valuable for that very same reason.
But what is it that sets some friendships apart from others, and makes them so much stronger? What do friendships that last over years, distance and transformations have in common?
Here are 7 signs that your friendship will move from high school to college, and all the way to a retirement home:
1. Your friendship wasn't based on talking about people.
The people you knew in middle school or high school aren't the same people you hang out with today, and friendships that relied solely on talking about mutual friends are bound to fizzle out when you no longer have that many mutual friends.
2. You genuinely care about the nonsense the other person gets into.
When something happens in your life, they're one of the first person you want to tell - and vice versa. You became the person you are today with them and nobody can understand how crazy you are, and why, except them.
3. You're open to them changing.
Because neither of you is threatened by change, you not only give each other space to change, but are excited by it.
4. You're both respectful of the constraints of an evolving friendship.
You don't feel the pressure to talk everyday - you're not scared and so you don't hold on so strongly that you strangle the relationship.
5. You love each other too much to not be in the others life.
As obvious as this is, sometimes even when it seems impossible, you make space for the people you just can't live without.
6. They are almost synonymous with home.
Your friendship can never end because your friend captures something about home that walls or roads can't. Talking to them and laughing with them feels like the sliding into your own bed - hard to define the comfort when you feel it everyday but impossible to forget once you're away.
7. You never stop trusting each other.
How can you, when they already know so much? Plus, they always know what the right thing to say is - because they've probably said it to you before.
Of course, friendship isn't an exact science and that's exactly what makes it so exciting. But if any of these signs reminded you of a friend, there's no better excuse to call them up and remind them that their going to be stuck with you for a while!
