When you find the right people to be your friends, it is one of the best feelings in the world. They are always there for you and pass no judgments on you. Well, at least not most of the time! More often then not these friends are local to you, no more than 15 minutes away, but as college comes distance grows. You may strike up a friendship with your roommate who lives hours away, or your high school friends leave home.
It is hard to come to terms with the idea that the people most important to you are the furthest away geographically. It is hard to expect that they are not always right there or a quick drive away.
It is hard not being close to your best friends. You don’t share the same memories anymore. You can last minute make plans when you decide it's been awhile or have nothing better to do. For some people the distance is short term, it will only last a summer or school year. Other times the distance is long term. There is no end in sight and you don’t know when they will be home again if they ever will be.
It is hard to have long-distance friends. You can’t drive to their house when you are bored and you can’t go get ice cream late at night because you feel like it. You have to plan to see them by scheduling time to video chat. Or making plans weeks in advance to have enough time. Or you just simply hope that they are free when you text them so you can’t at least catch up real quick.
The best part of my friends though, is they stay in contact even though they are far away. They still pick up the phone and say hi when they can even if it is hours and hours later. They haven’t dropped me even though they have another life somewhere else.
I am lucky to have these types of long distance friends because they care enough to stay in touch. A lot of times distance tears people apart. It is hard to stay close to someone when they aren’t actually close. Conflicting schedules make it hard to find overlapping free time and when you get to talk it's sporadic and often short.
Sometimes arguments even occur as the distance takes its toll. Growth and change happen and the difference in surroundings makes it hard to understand and relate to each other. If it is a true friendship, you can work through it even if it takes awhile. I know, I had that exact problem.
So to my long-distance friends, and you know who you are, I miss you. I am glad we haven’t lost touch and I can’t wait to see you again. You are some of the best friends I have and even though you are not close by, I couldn’t imagine not having you as a friend.
