June 2013, I'm sitting in the high school auditorium surrounded by my graduating class. As we cross the stage, move our tassels, toss our caps and take a million pictures, the promises made with friends come to mind. "We'll always be best friends" or "I cannot imagine my life without you in it." I wanted to believe those things were true. I thought these friendships really would last forever. Turns out my version of forever was different than theirs.

Going 12 hours from home for college really puts a strain on friendships. It's a lot of phone calls and skype dates. Sometimes it's just short text messages and you try to keep in touch. Coming home for Christmas those friends I was still talking to asked me to hang out and it was almost like we were still in high school. Then summer break comes rolling around and those friends stop texting and calling. They're always busy. You're busy working. Slowly the friendships burn out and you're left with a feeling of abandonment.

You begin to question if you were really ever friends. Loosing a high school friendship makes high school feel like it happened ages ago. You're watching these people you used to know on Facebook with new friends and while you also have new friends, you long to spend time with people you grew up with.

Loosing high school friendships makes coming home from college feel weird. Your family and memories live there but something in the air has changed. People slowly fade, and all you're left with are memories of years gone by. While you're happy with your new life and new friends, sometimes it's nice to just have the option of spending time with people you made memories with in your hometown.

While you miss the people you used to know, you will always be thankful for that short time in high school that you made memories with those who meant the most to you as a teenager.