Dear old best friend,

We started out as strangers, just as we all do. But something was different about you, something intrigued me.

Over time, I listened to your conversations: so thoughtful and touching, something I connected to. Your love for humans and their feelings was something I was not used to. You were different, and it was refreshing.

We grew closer and closer until we reached a point in time where you were the only person I could lean on. You were my shoulder to cry on when things got tough, and you were my partner-in-crime to every adventure we went on. You were my sidekick, lifeline and my best friend. You were irreplaceable.

Times went on, as well as boyfriends, other "best friends," hardships and triumphs. But through it all, we remained by each other's side, with little shudder. You were my brick wall; the one person I never thought would leave.

But times changed.

We changed.

We began growing and changing, for better and for worse. Though we stuck by each other's sides, it was different. But you were still there, and that's what mattered most to me.

Soon things got rough for me-- people left, people turned, and I was left broken. You still stuck around, though.

I remember you told me that seeing me hurt, made you hurt, and that you wanted nothing more than for me to be happy. And honestly, it broke my heart.

You were the reason I had made it through everything that I had. You were the moon shining down on me in a sky of darkness. And you were my angel of hope in the middle of despair. You were the reason I could wake up and smile every morning, and you never knew.

Every time you told me, "it will be okay," you gave me hope. You gave me hope for myself and society, and for us. But you didn't see it.

I remember the crazy ideas we would think of, and I even remember trying some of them. Though our ideas were crazy, nothing was crazier than our loyalty to each other.

Hundreds of people left us over the years, but never me nor you. We would never dream of it. Or so we said.

But like most stories, we grew up and we got sucked into society's trials and demands. We began talking less and becoming more involved with other friends and relationships, but we never became any less of best friends. It was just a different kind of friendship.

Again and again, we changed. We changed into different, more complex people. We began thinking differently, agreeing on different things and being friends with different people. But I never wanted our friendship to change, yet it did.

Our friendship has become fragmented: full of cracks that are barely visible to the common crowd, but felt and noticed by those who examine it on a closer level.

I had become fragmented, but you never noticed.

You changed, and you grew into someone I am honored to call my best friend. But you have changed into someone who has begun to leave me behind. You have begun moving on with your life, and you have done it without me.

I kept telling myself that we would be friends forever, and I still believe that, but I now believe it will be different than I had initially thought. But it's still something.

I spent the majority of high school thinking that change was bad, or that it meant the ending of something. But it's not true-- it's just the beginning of something new. Something beautiful.

Looking back, you aren't the person I thought you were. You've grown and changed, just as I have. You have become the most amazing and caring person I have ever met, even if it means you have left me behind.

You will always be my partner-in-crime, and the one I call my best friend. Nothing will change that, even if we do.

You are my forever friend, even if you have forgotten me. You are my best friend, forever you will be.

Forever,

Me.