To my high school best friends:

We are two years out of high school, and all of us are kickin' ass and takin' names. We are students-- we are fighters. We are actual adults! We have been through 8 a.m. classes and the horror of freshman fifteen. We love binge watching “Grey's Anatomy” on Netflix and eating ice cream. We hate early mornings and late night papers, but most of all, we hate that we aren't together.

We have seen each other at our worst: fifteen and braces, and we have admired each other had our most glamorous moments. We enjoyed firsts together like the heartache of the first break up or the wonders of our first high school prom. We have called one another crying with an overwhelming fear of uncertainty of what the future would hold, but we quickly consoled each other when we needed it most. We have laughed until we cried and rolled our eyes until hurt. We have loved wholeheartedly and smiled genuinely.

Here we are, two years later, older and wiser, ready for anything life throws at us. We may not speak every day or even every week, but we know that we are there as a support system no matter what. No one will ever know the drama, memories, laughs and countless sleepovers we have collected over the years. Each of these memories has made us and our friendship stronger. Each memory is a new chance to learn something about each other, even if it is just a coffee date on Cherry Street.

Each of us lives in a different town and we attend a different school. We have new friends and new lives that we have built within these two years. We are completely different women than we were two years ago, decked out in shiny blue satin, throwing our caps in the air. We left a stamp on our hometown, longing for more in this world. We are college girls now, creating our own lives. But, somehow, we always find our way back to one another, jumping at the chance to create more memories, because we know no one can replace us.

We are proud of one another, looking on with pride. We hope for the best for one another, praying for success. We know our friendship will last, because we have been through Hell and back to be where we are today. Still, we love wholeheartedly and smile genuinely at each other because we always have and always will be best friends.