Dear best friend,
It seems as though that two weeks ago the world shifted, but in the best way possible.
However, it was three weeks ago when I felt as though I was drowning in plans to make adequate travel arrangements to ensure that I would be there to watch your life change forever. Three weeks ago this did not feel real – all it was at the time was the opportunity for me to buy a new dress and see you for the first time in a while since I have been away at school.
Three weeks now seems as though it was a lifetime away. All of the stress of making sure I would be there melted away the second I saw the large, green sign that signals on the interstate that I was back in our town.
Two weeks ago it was the day. You know, the day you got married. Saying it doesn’t even sound real at this point. I can’t just pin you down as my married friend just yet. You are so much more than that. You have forever been my source of dating advice and the top advisor for every single picture I have ever posted on Instagram, boosting my confidence exponentially in the process. You wove your way into my family and are possibly the first friend that I have had that every single member in my family likes, infant nephew included. The past nearly four years of my life have been littered with countless Whataburger dates and too many drunken adventures to the movies or Rob’s. It is through these experiences that you became my closest confidant and one of the people who I truly appreciate most in my life.
When I told you that I was going to be writing something about you, you said “sounds like it’s going to be a boring article because you picked a s***** person to write about.” Girl. This is such a typical you-like response but, first off, no. Second, thanks for calling my writing boring. Anyway, you are the farthest thing from a “shitty person.” A “shitty person” would not offer a once-struggling me their unconditional help and support through every difficult moment in my life since I have known you. You are the first to offer refuge in your home or with your company, and this is something that I have yet to experience from anyone other than immediate family.
I will never forget when you spent your Thanksgiving with me at a T.G.I. Fridays because I was hurting and you wanted, no, insisted, on being there for me. It was not even a question as to whether or not you would be by my side for the rest of the day. That type of friendship is rare and beautiful and something that I will appreciate for the rest of my life. You have been my life preserver far too many times when the waves of life’s struggles come crashing around me.
So here we are, two weeks post-wedding day. Two weeks ago you wrangled me into a church where I sat and cried way too much watching you marry the man you love. The man who I have seen make you both the happiest you have been as also the most frustrated. I watched him watch you walk down the aisle and my heart was put to ease with what I saw. Standing there, waiting for you, was a man with more love in his eyes than I have yet to see. I sat there and reflected on our experiences together and all of the good you have brought into my life. I am now assured with one fact: that you two are going to make each other better. I know this because you have made me better, too. Though it may not seem like it, the positivity that you create in people lives is a palpable, tangible thing.
I hope that on days when life seems impossible that you remember that – that you remember how much good you bring to the people around you. I hope you remember the good you bring to those around you and realize how you truly are remarkable in the way that you touch everyone’s lives.
Two weeks ago I also realized one last thing: that as long as there are people like you in the world, people like me are going to be OK. I love you.
