When you graduate high school, you never anticipate graduating from your friends. The longer you’re at your new school, meeting your new friends you realize how quickly friendships you never thought would fade disappear. Sure, you will try to catch up on break for awhile, but it will never be the same. Here is an open letter to those friends I never thought I would lose.
Dear high school best friends,
First and foremost, thank you for being there through the crazy ride that was high school. Those four years were full of awkwardness, bad outfits, and crushing over the boys who never gave us a second look. I will never forget the nights we would stay in baking cookies and watching movies. I will never forget dressing up for all the ridiculous themes our Friday night football games had. I will never forget the craziness of the day of a dance, doing our hair, makeup and wondering how the night would end. I will never forget how you could be here at a moments notice whenever I was feeling sad. I will never forget your Qdoba order. I will never forget that you were like a sister to me.
Thank you for being there when I needed you most. As we moved on, we promised each other we would stay in touch. Weekly FaceTime calls, daily phone calls and constant text messages. But, as our schedules got busier and our social lives grew, it slowly became harder and harder to keep in touch. The first time I came back home we seemed to pick up right where we left off. It seemed nothing had changed. We talked about high school and where everyone was nowadays. Then, I headed back to campus.
Coming home for Christmas was a different story. Suddenly, we weren’t concerned with those kids from high school that we never liked anyway. All the stories we wanted to tell involved kids the other had never heard of. It got harder and harder to carry on a conversation. By the time summer rolled around it appeared our similarities had become differences. We would go weeks without talking, spending our time at home alone or with our families since our new friends lived all over the country. As we tried to get together over the summer the unthinkable happened.
All of sudden it hit me, we aren’t the same people we used to be. We had drifted apart. I realized I no longer knew you the way your college friends do and perhaps I never would. Being together just felt forced, off. That was the moment I realized I had let go. Let go of high school, the petty drama, the gossip, the fake friendships and to my disbelief, the real ones. I had moved on. I moved to a different state, started a new life, found new friends and created my own path. What scared me most was that I was ok with it. You were my best friend and will always hold a special place in my heart. Without you, I would not be who I am today. No matter how far apart we drift, just know I am only a phone call away. I love you so much and will always be here for you. You got me through the hardest four years I have experienced to date and for that I am forever grateful.
Love,
Your forever far away friend
