Best Friend,

From the moment we became best friends, which seems like forever ago, we started making plans -- big plans, small plans, but nonetheless -- plans. Along the way, some of these plans turned into trips to the mall, explorations around Europe, and little shops in neighboring towns, but some plans remained big and distant, seeming like goals aching to be completed sometime in the future.

I think a best friend is more than someone you can picture your life with in the present, it’s someone you think about your children calling Aunt, it’s someone you think about dancing with at your brother’s wedding, it’s someone you see seven years in the past and 60 years in the future.

I think a best friend is someone you don’t have to talk to every day -- they’re a constant -- they’re a guarantee. They’re someone you know is a phone call, a text, a tag on Instagram in a weird #tbt with away. They're the person you’ll have a framed picture of sitting in your future home with at 16, 26, and 56.

I think a best friend is someone who knows all the seemingly obsolete things about you: the way you take your coffee, whether you prefer blondes or brunettes, what your favorite pizza place is. They take the time to recognize not only the major contributions to your general being, but also the small things, and they have no problem with reminding you when you feel like you’re forgetting them.

I think a best friend is someone who you never have to call your best friend - they’re your person, your go-to, your lifeline. Having a best friend isn't like having an entity, it’s having a feeling of completion, contentedness, and happiness when you’re around them, whether you’re doing nothing or doing everything.

I think a best friend is someone you never stop making plans with. They remain a part of your life through the hundreds of miles that separate your colleges, through every late night at work, through every boyfriend, every questionable decision, and every monumental step you take.

When I think about my life, seven years in the past and seven years in the future, I can’t help but think: I can’t wait to complete all these big and little plans with you, because today, you’re my best friend and tomorrow you will be too.

So let’s keep making plans:

for coffee over thanksgiving break,

for a trip to the beach over the summer,

for renting an apartment in Boston,

for exploring Australia,

for playdates with our future kids,

to keep rooting for each other every day of the week.

I know that my forever friend is you.

I love you today and tomorrow,

Your best friend