Dear team,

The last time I saw any of you was the night we graduated, I think. I’ve spoken to a few of you here and there. Yes, the dynamic duo still speaks to each other every day. (Did you really think she and I could stop talking to each other?)

We used to be so close, like a giant family. I spent more time with you guys than I did with my own family. From spaghetti dinners to pancake breakfasts, from practices, meets and invites on the weekends to wing night on Wednesdays.

We were always together.

And I had no issue with that. Not all of you knew my life situation, and that was OK. Some of you were aware of it just enough to be there for me when shit happened.

But, for the most part, I was just happy to be part of a team with all of you.

People I would never have originally spoken to or hung out with, I was saying hi to in the hallway. We were going to dinner together. Hanging out at Reed’s house for hours on end trying to play that scary video game.

To this day, my favorite thing we would do was play Frisbee before practice. We’d get a workout in before we did our actual workout. And sometimes, we’d go to the park and play more Frisbee.

You guys were a family I was beyond happy to be a part of.

But, now we’re grown up.

Some of us have moved away, some stayed. Some are a part of a different team now, others don’t have a team at all. Some still hang out with people from the team, others haven’t seen each other in years.

I know we didn’t always like each other.

The team grew so large that by our senior year we had cliques within the clique that was the cross-country team. And we started to fall apart. There were plenty of days where I wanted to scream at some of you, and I’m sure you felt the same way.

There was a lot of drama that year. I think we had grown tired of each other. Being together so often became the problem within the team.

But, I’m still happy I was part of it.

I think about everyone from time to time. I’ll see something on social media and wonder how you all are. I’ll find a picture of all of us and reminisce about all the fun we had together.

I genuinely hope all of you are doing well.

And maybe one day we can all get together again. One more last spaghetti dinner. Play Frisbee one more time. Maybe even Green will come.

But, until that day, I wish you all the best.

And I hope you all know just how much you all meant to me. Being part of that team is one of my greatest memories.

CMXCOD,

Aliyah