My friends are my family -- it’s as simple as that. Each of them is unimaginably extraordinary. I don’t just have “my person,” but “my people.” To the most important people in my life: you are the ones who have been there for me through it all, and for that I am incredibly grateful. Now that we have graduated and moved away from home, our friendship grows stronger each day, no matter the distance (although I'm not the least bit surprised). I am now able to recognize more than before the little things that I often took for granted with our friendship. So thank you:

1. Thank you for being there through the good and the bad.

2. Thank you for unconditionally loving me.

3. Thank you for the embarrassing picture collages on every birthday.

4. Thank you for helping me decipher the hidden meaning of every text I receive.

5. Thank you for all the triple-chinned Snapchat photos.

6. Thank you for accepting me as part of your family, and loving mine as your own.

7. Thank you for listening to me talk about the same guy and the same situation over and over (and over).

8. Thank you for supporting me in all my endeavors.

9. Thank you for retaking pictures if I don’t like the littlest thing about them.

10. Thank you for the sass -- it keeps me on my toes.

11. Thank you for being compassionate.

12. Thank you for the much-needed pep talks.

13. Thank you for helping celebrate my accomplishments.

14. Thank you for the late-night drives for Slurpees with Taylor Swift blasting out the windows.

15. Thank you for your company.

16. Thank you for understanding relationships are constantly changing. We are lucky ours gets better and better with time.

17. Thank you for being my partner in crime and never letting me make stupid decisions alone.

18. Thank you for watching the newest Nicholas Sparks movie with me, legs intertwined, with gigantic mugs of tea and heaping bowls of ice cream.

19. Thank you for giving me a shoulder to cry on and knowing exactly how to make me laugh after.

20. Thank you for being there during my first heartbreak and not once saying “I told you so,” even though you had every reason to.

21. Thank you for our traditions.

22. Thank you for the memories that make us laugh so hard our stomachs hurt.

23. Thank you for your positivity.

24. Thank you for allowing us to grow separately without growing apart.

25. Thank you for the endless memories and being my best friends, no matter the distance.

Although our days of strutting down the halls of high school together are over, and we are experiencing life for ourselves, please know you are my forever-friend. The miles between us mean nothing when our friendships mean so much. I am so proud of all you are accomplishing; never doubt your abilities because they are endless, and never question your worth because it is countless. Distance may keep us physically apart, but never anything more than that.