Welcome home kids.

Cheers to you college freshman. You have successfully completed your first year at college. You didn’t drop out, you didn’t fail (all) your classes, and you’re finally headed home after a long, stressful year at school.

As you are packing up your dorm room, the newly hung pictures of your college friends, and start to say your goodbyes to your best friends, it finally hits you that you’ll be apart from them for three months. But is three months really that long? As you’ve adjusted to your new life away from home, remember that you’ve spent nine long months away from your best friends of 18 years. Can you believe you survived that long without your “best friends” back home?

Now that you are headed back for the summer, don’t forget about those that loved you first. So here's to you, childhood best friends, you’ve survived nine months apart. Going home for the first time is going to be awkward at first; we’ve created new lives without each other, memories that don’t involve each other. We’ve quite literally forgotten each other. I just hope and pray that you haven’t forgotten me for good.

I just want to take this time to say thank you. We’ve been through a lot without each other and we have a lot of catching up to do, so please don’t be mad that I wasn’t always the best at keeping in touch.

So thank you ahead of time for understanding.

Thank you for letting me create another life without you.

Thank you for loving me even though I wasn’t always the best at keeping in touch.

Thank you for taking time out of your new life to wish me a happy birthday.

Thank you for answering my phone calls at 3am on a Thursday night.

Thank you for listening to me brag about my college best friends.

Thank you for listening to my boy drama and hating him even though you don’t even know the kid (except for what you’ve gathered through social media stalking).

Thank you for allowing me to reenter your life when it was easiest for me.

Thank you for watching me grow from afar and for being proud of the person I was becoming as I did the same for you.

Thank you for being by my side all throughout life, but most of all, thank you for being able to find best friends away at college as I did. Seeing you as happy as I was with new friends at college was exactly what I hoped for. I won’t sit here and say I wasn’t jealous that I couldn’t spontaneously jump on your back for a cute picture or have late night cuddle sessions together, but I knew you would find people to replace me; I just hoped and prayed that they would love you as much as I do.

So childhood best friends, please forgive me. Forgive me for forgetting that you were there first, that you are my literal day ones in life, that you were there through the painfully awkward tween years, that you were there to see me at my worst first, and that you loved me first.

I can’t wait to see you soon, childhood best friends. This summer, as the kids say, is about to be lit. I can’t wait to go on adventures with y’all again and to explore spontaneous places back home together. This summer will be spent with you all, my best friends back home.

Much love,

The friend that promises she didn’t actual forget you