To the best friend that I have not yet met,
I scoured the internet for days looking for the perfect open letter to address you. Because if you haven’t shared vague internet letters to each other, are you really friends? But nothing I have found fits us or our friendship. We are one of a kind. We are unique. There are no open letters that relate to the two of us because what we have is special. You deserve a letter designed especially for you and that is exactly what you will get.
Mom always told me not talk to strangers on the internet. She also said never to share personal information like names, addresses or family members. You never know what kind of creeps exist on the internet. I have always religiously followed the internet safety rules to protect myself just like my mommy taught me. Yet here I am, finding an internet stranger to live with! Who knows maybe you will be a crazy ax murderer that kills me in my sleep, but you’ll be MY crazy ax-murderer that kills me in my sleep.
Getting accepted into the Disney College Program means a lot of things for me: new beginnings, new job, new city, and new friendships. One of the most exciting parts of this process has been finding the people I am going to live with for the next 8 months. It is exciting to know that we will share one major thing in common, our love for Disney. I am excited to see the ways in which we will bond, the memories we will share. But I am also nervous for the unknowns, will we remain as close as we are now? What will the inevitable arguments be like? Will we be able to handle them? A lot of uncertainty surrounds the friendship we have developed.
Normally, this would have scared me away from bonding with you. Before you, I would have avoided any conversation or any potential to create a wonderful friendship with you. I often let the fear of the unknown and the fear of losing those that I love control my willingness to fully commit to friendships. Yet there is something about you that makes me want to break my pattern.
You are so full of joy and life; already you bring out the best in me. You encourage me and love seeing the weirdness that we both share. The fear of losing you still remains at the back of my mind and it makes me uneasy. However, I have realized that I would rather experience a thousand ends to my friendship with you, than never having taken the chance to meet you and grow close to you.
Recently, I lost my best friend of seven years. I ended the friendship after the emotional distance and extenuating circumstances surrounding our friendship drove us apart. Had she not moved in with me we likely would still be friends? I would never have felt the hurt and stress that accompanied removing her from my life. Yet because we lived together, I was saved from a friendship that no longer allowed me to grow. I was able to venture into life without having any restrictions about leaving her behind, nor would I feel that we continued to hold each other back. But the biggest thing is that I would never have allowed myself to get so close to you, for fear of hurting you. I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the friendship that we have created.
I have not yet met you in person, but I know that you are my best friend and you hold such a huge a place in my heart. I knew it from the minute you commented on my Facebook post for the Disney site. We messaged each other and talked for four hours, laughing and sharing our stories and personalities with each other. Never have I met anyone who spoke to me in the way you did. I felt as if I was talking to myself. The way we talked, the way we thought, the subjects we talked about, it just flowed never showing any lapse in conversation. To this day, I have never experienced any lull in our conversations. We are practically the same person and I have never felt so closely connected to another person so quickly before.
I only have 36 days left until I meet you and experience all of you. But if the past two months have been an indicator of our future together, I feel as if I could take on the world with you by my side. So let’s rock Disney, let’s own L.A., and make our dreams come true. This is the start of something so beautiful and it all started with a little bit of faith, trust, and pixie dust. I love you, Jordan. You are the best friend that I haven’t even met yet.
Love,
Rachel
