It happens often in the middle of my day, while among my hectic schedule; sometimes, it feels like my brain is stuck in the past but the rest of me continues in the present. My mind flashes back to the past and I become nostalgic.

I'm often reminded of those early days we would all share together; the sleepovers, the field trips, the BFF bracelets and those "rebellious" notes we passed to each other in the middle of class.

Sleepovers were spent watching movies like Aquamarine, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and, of course, Sleepover. We would Heely in our basements, go on walks to the playground and make up stories about the boys we liked.

When we went on field trips to places like the Pittsburgh Zoo and the Science Center, we would spend the day calling dibs on the other boys we would meet there; and by meet, I mean gaze at for three seconds from afar then never see again.

We bought best friend bracelets to share among our tiny group. We treated the bracelet like the pair of jeans in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants; which was great in theory, but at the end of the day it just caused more drama as to who got to wear it.

Notes were passed to each other when the teacher would be writing on the chalkboard. We treated those notes like they were a sacred artifact we found hidden beneath the ground; the words within the note revealed our answers to questions like "What's up?" and "What are you wearing tomorrow?"

We each had our own ideas for the future, but they all revolved around each other. We had an athlete, a doctor, a teacher and a singer. Obviously, we all lived on the same street right next door to each other so our children could be best friends. We traveled the world together on a private jet to attend the singer's concerts- naturally, for free! And of course, we all had our own TV show on Disney like any other third grader in 2005.

I become overwhelmed with a sense of comfort when I am reminded of those days when we all saw each other every day. I laugh at the silly things we did that we thought were "cool," because "cool" was all we really wanted to be.

It's sad to think that our lives went separate ways as early as junior high, when we were seemingly forced into meeting new people from around our small world.

It's even sadder to realize that, though it is unsurprising our views for the future were completely mistaken, who would have thought our futures did not even involve each other in the slightest bit?

I miss the days we used to spend together and I am discouraged that our lives have become so distant.

I'm happy for each of my childhood best friends: the people they have met, and the things they have accomplished.

But I still miss them, and I want them to know that.