I’ve had a fair amount of friends over the years, some whom I would’ve called my best friends at the time. However, I'm not sure that I would feel the same way about them today. Don’t get me wrong, I love the people who I used to call my best friends and I love the memories that we shared, but I thought that they were going to be my absolute best friends forever and that our kids would grow up together. I now realize that, while they were incredible friends and I will always treasure them, I didn’t truly understand the meaning of “best friends” until I met you guys.
I’ve struggled with social anxiety for as long as I can remember and this has kept me from fully putting myself out there and forming the relationships that I craved. I finally accepted that I just wasn’t meant to have really close friends. That changed once I met you. I’m not saying that my anxiety vanished the second that I met you, but, after a while, that's exactly what happened. I had never felt so comfortable around anyone before, save my family, not even the people who I used to call my best friends. It was strange to hang out with people without getting a stomachache beforehand and desperately wanting to cancel our plans, but it was also beautiful and freeing.
We’ve only been best friends for a little over two years, but I’ll be damned if they haven’t been the best two years of my life. I never thought that I would find people who I could actually call at any time, whether it is to tell them great news or to ask them to come over to my apartment because “I’m having a mental breakdown.” I never thought that I would find people who I was able to unapologetically be myself around. I had simply accepted the fact that I would always have to fight through the anxiety, no matter how much I loved the person. However, you guys made me realize that if I find the right people, then that anxiety will disappear. That is the greatest gift that I could ever ask for.
I will leave you with this message: "Thank you." Thank you for listening to my atrocious singing while we’re blasting the radio on our pointless drives. Thank you for comforting me when I was sobbing in the middle of our high school library because Zayn left One Direction. Thank you for pushing me outside of my comfort zone and for being a part of my best memories. Thank you for always being a phone call away. Thank you for making me realize my worth and making sure that I never forget it. Thank you for being my personal cheerleaders. Thank you for making me believe in true, unconditional friendship. Thank you for being my people. I love you endlessly.
