Over these past couple months, I’ve realized a few things. One, it’s possible to miss out on friendships for a long time, simply because you haven’t tried to get to know someone. Two, even if you’ve known each other for a short time, someone can be an amazingly close friend you don’t want to lose. And three, having a friend leave to go live in another country really sucks.
Going through sorority recruitment, chapter-side, you expect to meet people you plan to make your forever sisters and recruit the best pledge class. Sure, that definitely happened and I gained the perfect little, but another thing happened that I definitely wasn’t expecting! I grew close to an absolutely amazing girl who I wish I had known better than just her name, a lot sooner. This is because she betrayed left me and went back to her home country (South Korea) a short 4 months after recruitment. Helen, I may have only known you well enough to call you a friend for a short while when you were here, but those 4 months were definitely unforgettable. So where should I even start..?
Dear Helen,
You’ve been in my pledge class since day one and for over a year all I knew about you was your name. Then, recruitment basically forced us together and guess what? I didn’t want to let you go. Isn’t it amazing the kinds of friendships you can be missing out on without even realizing it?
You are truly one of a kind. You’re quirky, fun, and your sass is on another level (to the point where I thought you'd hated me at first!) You understand my strange love of K-pop and don’t judge me too much for it, all the while, allowing me into your life and letting me talk to you as if you’ve known me for so much longer.
And now you’re gone.. I know we still like each other’s things on Facebook and Snapchat each other and FaceTime is our friend, but it still hurts, ya know? I had just met this awesome girl who was always willing to hang out with me and loved my quirks and she told me two months into the friendship that she was leaving the country. But you know what? I think a true test of friendship is proving that no matter what life throws at you, whether it’s a silly disagreement or a 6,645 mile separation, it won’t stop you from talking like you never left.
FaceTiming while you’re on a bus and everyone’s staring at you because you’re speaking English makes me laugh every time. Getting your snapchats at strange times of night while I'm asleep to only wake up to see what cute and fun things you’re doing each day makes me feel like I'm still involved in your life! And staying up until ridiculous times at night just wouldn’t be the same if you didn’t call me to talk for only 20 minutes.
Sometimes it scares me that we’re slowly going to go our separate ways and stop talking. Maybe that will happen in the future. But for right now, at this very moment, I want you to know this:
You are an amazing girl. I can’t believe I looked you over when we first became sisters. Honestly, I couldn’t even remember who you were in a sea of new faces, and I feel bad about that. But you took a chance on me. We were pushed into the same group during recruitment and out of everyone there, you took a chance on the shy girl who barely talked. Thank you. Thank you for becoming not only my sister, but a great friend. I know you’re destined for great things over there in South Korea and even though you call me a lot with your boy problems, you definitely don’t need me to look after you. I mean look at you, you just got your Korean driver's license and everything! You keep me in your life even though you could have just as easily started over completely, and for that I thank you again. I miss you a lot, friend.
Love,
The Friend you Left Behind (but that's okay, she may forgive you maybe)
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P.S.
The point of this was to try and make you cry, but I ended up tearing up myself. I guess that's one way to show my love, right? Happy Birthday, girly. I love you and miss you!
It’s hard going from a relationship where you can walk over to the person in five minutes to only being able to text/call, but let’s be honest. I don’t think the best friendships come from the easiest situations. The friendships that you want to put in effort to keep, no matter how hard it is, are the ones worth keeping.
