Dear squad,
Well, guys, our days of laughing until we cry together are coming to an end as this winter break ceases. Soon enough, we’ll all be back in class in different states. But this winter break made me realize all the things I have to thank you for.
It’s weird going away to college, moving away from home, and leaving behind everyone you know and love. However, you get over it. Within weeks you make friends and begin to create a new home. It took me a while to make the amazing friends that I have at school now, but I can truly say that they’re some of my best friends.
But then, I started seeing you with your new friends, just as you saw me with mine. To say it terrified me would be an understatement. Don’t get me wrong—I was and am so happy for you that you made friends and love school! I just couldn’t shake the feeling that we would lose who we were.
I could never tell you this, of course. How would I mention the fact that seeing you happy made me upset? Yeah, we’d come home for a long weekend or Thanksgiving break, but we didn’t get to spend time together like we did back in high school. This winter break, we were able to.
While we were hanging out in someone’s basement or way up in Vermont, you all reminded me that we couldn’t change, that we couldn’t lose this if we tried. That’s the great thing about really great friends: your friendship isn’t forced. You’re friends because you laugh at the same stupid jokes, cry at the same rom-coms and simply enjoy each other’s presence. You sit around a table planning each other’s weddings because you know you’re all going to be bridesmaids. It would take more than a few hundred miles to break us up.
Looking back at how I felt about your college friends, I realize how silly that was. I know that although we will all make other friends, we will always come home. I still have my eight bridesmaids and the best friends I could ever ask for. No one can compare to your high school friends. My high school best friends know me like the back of their hand. They know exactly what I wanted for Christmas, what will make me feel better when I’m down, and what will crack me up. My high school friends have helped to mold me into the person I am today. They’ve picked me up when I’ve fallen. They held my hand when I was shaking in fear of going to college. They believed in me and stuck with me through thick and thin. To be completely honest, I owe everything to them. I wouldn’t be where I am without such an incredible group of friends.
So to my high school best friends, thank you for being just that—my best friends. I love you more than I can say because you remind me who I am. No matter where we travel or who we meet, we will always have each other.
Love always,
1/9 of squad
