This month being International Women's Friendship Month, I thought it would be an appropriate time to let my friends know how much I value their company. My mother always compared friendship to gardening. Your friends are the flowers which grow in your garden, enhancing your life and making it more beautiful. You are the gardener, and you must water and care for the plants. She also said that it is more important to have a small garden of striving plants that you can adequately care for rather than an overgrown mess of foliage that you can’t cultivate properly. Hence, a true friendship is a mutualistic relationship where you are constantly supporting one another and improving one another’s quality of life.

Your friends are there for you during all of the good times and the bad. They are there to cheer you up when you are drunk crying in the bar bathroom, when that player breaks your heart (even though they probably warned you about him), when you’re stressing about all of your professors scheduling exams for the same week, or when you break your diet before 24 hours have even passed. Yet, they’re also going to be there cheering you on when you pass that test you stayed up all night studying for, you made that sports team you tried out for, you got your winged eyeliner perfect, or you scored that internship that you’ve been dreaming about.

Just this past weekend, one of my best friends was taken to the hospital with a medical scare. Rather than our group of friends going out and living it up like we typically would, we all paid her visits, had movie nights with her, and some girls were even able to stay and have sleepovers with her. While I was there, I was texting people about the incident and all of us hanging out at the hospital. A lot of people responded “oh wow you’re so kind, such a good soul, etc.” That wasn’t why I was in that hospital, though. I wasn’t trying to be a Good Samaritan. My response to those people was: I know that if it was me in this position, those people would have been there for me in a heartbeat. I’m in a room with some of my best friends and future bridesmaids. Coming here didn’t require any thought; it was practically an instinct.

I absolutely cherish my garden of friends. I am constantly surrounded by strong, encouraging, kind, selfless women and men that bring out the best in me. It is so important to have a steady group of friends that share your morals and support your visions. True friends make you smile bright and laugh out loud, even in tough times. Your responsibility as the gardener, is to reciprocate that love. Water your garden and you will forever reap the benefits of your beautiful flowers.

A special thank you to my personal garden. I didn't get to picture everyone, but I am so appreciative of each and every one of my flowers.