"That was what a best friend did: hold up a mirror and show you your heart." - Kristin Hannah, "Firefly Lane."

We always say that God made us best friends because our parents couldn't handle us as sisters. I'm not sure that that's necessarily true. We may not be sisters by blood, but we are by just about everything else. I think that, maybe, God didn't make us sisters because He knew that it would take time for us to meet each other; we needed to live a part of our lives in order to fully appreciate our friendship. You weren't my first "best friend."

When we met, we really weren't all that crazy about each other. But when we got pushed together in that orientation class our freshman year of college, it was like God finally decided it was time. I was in a totally new place. I was alone, away from everyone I loved and trying to juggle adjusting to college, a long-distance relationship, and my over-all general awkwardness with change. You were living in your hometown with your family and recovering from a breakup with your high school sweetheart.

I will never be able to tell you how thankful I am that God put us together. I am thankful for the fact that we bonded over our general inability to make new friends (the irony), our closeness to our families, our love of cheese fries and Dr. Pepper, and the fact that the more we got to know one another the more we realized that we were basically the same person in two different bodies. We really are so much alike that it's scary. We have been through so many of the same things. We know more about each other than pretty much anyone else in the world. I want to say thank you for that. Thank you for adopting me into your family and understanding me in a way no one else ever had. Thank you for basically moving me in with you and declaring me your plus one to every social and family event ever. Thank you for always being willing to listen, laugh, and tell me I was being an idiot when I needed it. Thank you for staying up with me every night I cried over school or people or my random life problems and for the silent understanding that I will always do the same for you. Thank you for the fact that when I up and moved from Stillwater to Alva and transferred to Northwestern we stayed as close as ever, even when I didn't put the effort into our friendship that you deserved.

I love you for always picking up the slack when I let you down and for the fact that we can not speak for weeks and then pick up exactly where we left off. Thank you for not letting our friendship be the kind that slowly fades out. Thank you for keeping my life together when I needed help and for loving me even when you didn't agree with me. You are the best friend anyone could ever ask for. I am so thankful to have a friend that I can come to with the good, the bad, and the ugly and know that you'll give me the truth whether I like it or not. You always have a way of listening to me and then telling me exactly what I need to hear. You are my "person" and I am so thankful to have someone who can show me my heart when I'm having trouble understanding it myself. Thank you for supporting me, helping me grow, and showing me love like Jesus. You're the greatest, but that really doesn't begin to describe how amazing of a friend you are. Thank you for the fact that no matter how old we are or where life takes us, I know you'll always be only a phone call away. You're the best, Twin. Love always, Liz.