First of all, I just hope you know how much I miss you. My Friday nights really aren't the same without our Panera runs and "Friends" marathons. I miss everything about our sleepovers. Not to mention, I miss seeing you every morning at school and walking to classes together, and gossiping over what happened during those classes while we sat together at lunch. I still have all the screenshots on my phone-- snapchats of the awful faces you make and the awful moments you've captured of me when I wasn't paying attention. Anyway, I just really think there is something I need to tell you, something I hope you know, but just in case, here it is.
Even though we don't go to the same colleges, and even though we've gone our separate ways, I still think about you all the time. I've made new friends in college, but you can bet I tell them all about you. I tell them about the funny times we've had together (which, let's be honest, are usually you-had-to-be-there moments) and they can pick each of you out in photos. I tell them about how we met and how long we've been friends, find funny pictures of us from freshman year and laugh with them about how grown up we look, and reminisce about the highs and lows of our friendship.
One of my favorite things about coming home, is coming home and seeing you. I know that we will pick up right where we left off, and it will be as though nothing has changed. We will get food at the same restaurants we always go to, and park our car in the exact same abandoned parking lot we always do. We'll laugh at the crazy things we've done in the past, and make new memories together (like trying to drive over a grass median between parking lots because you didn't feel like backing up and driving to the next parking lot) and end up back at your house like we always do, trying to decide which season of "Friends" to watch, because you own them all.
Whenever I can, I want to make plans with you as much as possible, whether it's just an afternoon of making cookies or a full on girls night, because it's with you that I feel the most comfortable. I have never felt judged in our group, and I hope none of you have either. I feel like I can be completely honest with you and I love that about us. We are all so different in each of our own ways, and it is what makes us, us. One of us is quiet and reserved, while one is fearless when it comes to speaking their mind and determined to leave a mark on the world. Another is passionate and a dreamer, and one loves to laugh and enjoy's every moment of life that there is. Each of us inspires that in the other, and brings out the best in each other. All of you have had an impact on me and have made me who I am today, starting all the way back to freshman year.
What I'm trying to say is, no matter where life takes us, and who it introduces us to, you will always be my best friends. You will always be the group of friends I came into high school with, and you will always be the people I shared endless laughs with. They say keeping friends after high school is hard, but something tells me we will makes it out alive, because there is something holding us together. Maybe it's the constant stream of text messages running through our phones, or the idea of one day meeting each other in a coffee shop each afternoon, but no matter what, this is my promise to you -- wherever life takes us, I'm here for you.
