Dear Best Friend,
While you are off in another country (or countries to be more exact) life is proceeding as normal back home. I still get up everyday, laugh just as hard, and still walk around campus with the same amount of pep in my step. I do all the same things, eat at all the same places, and participate in all the same daily rituals as before. I still drink my coffee impatiently, burning the tip of my tongue because I couldn't wait thirty more seconds for it to cool down, and I still listen to the same girl power playlists when I'm at the gym.
Life, as I said, is exactly the same.
But as my best friend, you should know. I'm lying.
A few months ago, I remember how excited you were to be accepted into your program, and how anxious you were to start meticulously planning your once in a lifetime opportunity. I knew you were going, but it took a while for it to become real.
It wasn't real for me when you didn't apply for next semester's classes on our campus. It wasn't real for me when you started searching for a sublet for you apartment. It wasn't real for me the countless times we talked about all the excursions you were going to take when you got there. It wasn't even real for me when I hugged you as tight as I could as we said our final "see you later."
It wasn't real for me when you FaceTimed me for the first time from your apartment in London. It wasn't real for me when we started altering our forms of communication, responding several hours after each message at times.
It was real for me when I searched for your face in class, and you weren't there.
It was real when I wanted to go sit outside and do homework, knowing my favorite person to do that with was across the globe. It was real when I had a bad day, a bad week, and needed your spark of positivity that just one minute in your presence gives me. It was real when I FaceTimed you into our Homecoming football game so you wouldn't miss any action.
It was real when I realized that this won't be the first time we'll be apart.
Seeing you have the time of your life away is like watching you ride a roller coaster while I wait in line. It's bittersweet. I selfishly miss you everyday, and there isn't an hour that goes by that I don't think, "this would be so much better if she were here."
Despite all of those moments, and despite selfishly missing you every day, your adventure has given me as much as it has given you.
It's made me stronger, but mostly it's made me more grateful. Grateful to know you, grateful to be just a supporting role in your life, and grateful for our friendship. Grateful that you have been able to experience this, and grateful that you are so adventurous for trying new things and being so brave.
While the initial thought of you being away made me sad beyond belief, seeing you explore and conquer a new place each weekend makes me so happy. I live vicariously through your photos, knowing that you are satisfying your inner travel bug.
I am so incredibly happy for you.
When you make the unspoken, emotional promise to be best friends, it's unconditional. Distance doesn't get a say in the matter.
Soon we will be graduating, and off on our own new adventures who knows where. I don't know what the future holds, but I know you will always be a part of it for me, and I hope I will be a part of it for you.
I love you, I miss you, and come home quickly when you're done with your adventure. We have lots to talk about.
With love,
Me
