We all have that one person we look to when times get a little too much for us. My best friend was the one for me throughout the years. But there was one small issue, for the both of us. We both suffered from anxiety. Most people believe that this illness is not even an illness or even an issue, but for us it changed the world.
It was in high school when *Karly and I met. Even though we went to different high schools, we had seemed to find a way to each other. Thanks to Facebook, I managed to find someone who I could completely trust. Weird, right? Actually, our moms were friends while they were pregnant with us. Years later, my mom mentioned *Karly's mom and the whole story. I finally found *Karly on Facebook and soon we started talking! For some reason, it took us forever to actually hang out. Let me make it clear, we only lived twenty minutes away from each other. So, that is how this awesome friendship began.
Soon, after getting to know *Karly and her getting to know me, we both got to know each other's issues and secrets. We immediately opened up to each other. It felt like we have known each other our entire lives. The main thing we gave to each other was trust. So with this trust, we both told each other about something very real to us. We both had anxiety. This mental illness that so many people have heard of, but nobody knows nothing about. We knew. We knew everything we needed to know, and also kept experiencing new things about this anxiety.
For the both of us, college was a huge step. Again, we did not go to the same school, but ended up twenty minutes away from each other! Again, weird. College was something we were really excited about, but completely scared for at the same time. We had no idea how to handle it. At the time, she had a boyfriend that went to the same college as her. She had her support. Unlike me, I only had myself. I had to make friends by myself and also had to go to a class of 300 people by myself. Yes, walking into a classroom still makes me nervous. Hell, just walking to class gets to me. So for a while, she was my rock. She was there to talk to me about how to solve these little issues because she had been through them.
Later into the year, *Karly had lost her support due to a break-up. She reached out to me and all I gave her was my love and support. She was getting anxiety about him being with other people and how she was going to function. At the time, she also was trying to gain some self-confidence and was feeling down about herself. She wanted to transfer schools and she could not help but think she was stuck. She used me as her rock and that meant the most.
Our issues together brought us together. We became friends before anxiety and stuck together through anxiety. We grew closer because we related and respected each other. That is exactly what love is. My best friend is beautiful because she has survived and learned from her obstacles. Anxiety makes those obstacles ten times bigger. But she did it. As for me, I aspire to be as strong as her one day. Thanks girl for everything and always be my friend.
**Name that are starred are for privacy
