To my close friends from high school, the ones who did not drift away as we left for college, thank you.

Thank you for making the conscious decision to not let our friendship go by the wayside as we all go our separate ways. If possible, we grew closer as the distance between us increased. Although we went hours and even states apart, our friendship stayed intact, and for that I am thankful.

I love hearing about your new lives at college, of all the new organizations that you have joined and all the people you have found to be your friends.The ones who you repeatedly point out in pictures because I forget their names all the time, but still thankful for these people who have made this experience that much better for you as we start new chapters of our lives.

I am thankful for our texts as we are apart, but more so for the times our breaks align so that we can catch up, because words are not an adequate replacement for reconnecting in person, sharing new memories and remembering old ones. I look forward to the summers when we have three months to see each other more in between work, summer classes, and all the other little things that keep us busy. I could not imagine summers without you all. Whether it be just getting coffee for an hour, or making a day trip out of a day off to go somewhere, anywhere, when destinations don’t matter but the memories made along the way are what is treasured.

You are part of the reason I am so excited to come home for breaks, because even though I made wonderful friends at college, to quote a song from Tarzan, “you’ll be in my heart” and I cannot express enough how blessed I am by our friendship.