To my childhood neighbors,

My first friends and my forever friends.

Thank you.

Thank you for the cherished memories that I have been blessed to grow up with.

Thank you for walking to the bus stop with me at 6:45 a.m. on our first day of kindergarten. You eased those kindergarten nerves and made me feel like I could conquer anything alongside you.

Thank you for running to my house and knocking on my door at 8 years old to ask if I could "play". Answering that door always made my day.

Thank you for all those nights of spud and four square in the front yard. Nothing was more fun to my child self than competing with each other, all while laughing at each other.

Thank you for laughing with me throughout the happiest times of my life, and crying with me throughout the worsts. Oh, and thank you for always making me laugh so hard that I cried, those times will never be forgotten.

And most of all, thank you for the nostalgia you provide. We somehow always find a way to be talking about our blasts from the past or laughing about our childhood memories.

Many people don't understand what it is like to have had a lifelong friend thus far, 19 years later, but I am lucky enough to know. It is always having someone by your side no matter the circumstances.

The prime times of my childhood were all because of you and I could not thank you enough.

Here we are, 19 years later and still as inseparable as ever despite being 6 hours away from each other, rather than 10 feet. Whether it is a daily text, phone call, or FaceTime, we make it work, and I am forever thankful.

Thanks for sticking by my side for the past 19 years...

And lastly, thanks for being my lifelong go-to girls.

Our bond is unique and we are forever lucky that something as simple as a neighborhood brought us together.

My first friends and forever friends, always.

Sincerely,

Your childhood neighbor