It’s true, especially in college, we meet a vast majority of people in such a short amount of time. I mean, who would have ever thought that we all as a whole could kindle relationships with people that are our exact polar opposites? Even so, who would have thought that we would meet our all time, very best friends? Entering my freshman year, I never believed that I would leave my comfort zone. I did all that and then some, let me tell you. It's true that we build relationships with those that are similar to us, and that we coincide respectively with. I found the greatest comfort of all in the friends I made freshman year, and I would never let go of these relationships for the world.
Although we have all taken lives different paths in life, we still speak a thousand times a day. People ask me all the time if the friends that decided to leave and I still talk, and the funny thing is that those people are aware they're asking a question they already know the answer too. So many people lose friends because of the distance that keeps them physically apart, and we all have to wonder why that is. It seems like the distance put between them took away the meaning of the friendships.
Deep down, we all have to wonder why these friends were put in our life. Upon meeting these friends and entering college, we all started off on the same path. Sometimes people's paths change, and we as best friends need to respect that. Distance doesn’t mean a thing. Let me tell you why that is: it's because we all have a very special place in each other's lives. Sure, it's hard not going to dinner anytime I want with my best friends, but those hour-long FaceTime chats mean just as much. I guess it's all in the way someone perceives the term distance.
Distance [dis-tuh ns] (n): the extent or amount of space between two things, points, lines, etc., according to dictionary.com.
To me, I don’t see a word that says anything about neglecting those that may leave or not be in our locations. Transferring, studying abroad, or just taking a semester off to figure things out, are things we see occur quite frequently while in college. The biggest thing to remember is that we all need to stop saying “come home” or “don’t go” because to the ones that leave, this is their decision. It's important to keep the love flowing. More often than not, we forget that we can be quite selfish to these friends. Sure as our friends take separate paths in the world, it's almost impossible not be upset with their decisions and miss them. This is where our selfishness derives from, the not wanting to let go, or the feeling that we have too. Just because someone leaves to fulfill themselves, doesn't mean that we have to let go. It just means we need to give these friends more support.
True friends are friends 'til the end, but to keep these relationships, it takes effort from each side. Friendships take more than just a like on Instagram or Facebook. Long distance friendships take engagement. The random visits, the hours on the phone, the texts about that dress you don’t know if you should order for the upcoming date party, but need some major advice on, those type of things keep and help build relationships with long distance friends. So to my long distance friends, keep on keeping it real, and it's not a goodbye, it’s a see ya later.
