When my best friend told me she was no longer going to college and would instead be going into the Navy, I did not know what to think. For the entirety of my senior year, I thought that whenever I came home from school I would have her right there to drive me absolutely up a wall and cry about all the stupid things that would not even be relevant in a few short years. Instead, when I came home, I was left with the sporadic text messages of "I miss you" and the occasional FaceTime call whenever we possibly could. But even though, we are not able to talk as much anymore, our friendship is stronger than ever.

I like to think I was one of her biggest cheerleaders as she headed off to the Navy. Even though I completely failed to write her throughout boot camp, and trust me that was me failing as a best friend. But the honest truth was that I did not know what to tell her. There was so much going on that I did not want her to feel like she was missing so much. I wanted her to feel like when she came back she hadn't missed a thing.

But out of everything, despite how strong our friendship is now, there is still one thing I miss so much, and it is physically having her here. It sounds selfish, I know, but I think anyone else with a long distance BFF can relate. There are experiences that I went through in college and this first summer back from college that I have not been able to share with her. I can tell her about it as much as I want, but she is not here to see it all with me.

While I am out discovering myself and she is out discovering herself as well, it gets scary thinking that maybe our friendship is growing apart because of the experiences we no longer have together. Whether it was going live on Instagram because we could or running around screaming on the top lungs at one in the morning, we were there together. Now we see what the other is doing, and while we are incredibly happy for the other, I feel a deep sense of upset and loss.

The Navy and going to college are the best things that Jade and I needed in our lives. We needed to get away and to go our separate ways, but the unknown scares me so much. I fear that maybe this time away will eventually drive us apart. There is so much we have both missed of each other's lives. But I trust her, and I know that we will always find a way back to each other.

You don't get a friend like her and then throw it all away. I know I will never find another friend like her in all of my time on this earth. So despite everything, all of the odds working against us, I know Jade is going to be in my life until the day I die. Even if we can't always be within a 50-mile radius of each other.