The time has come again for me to move. You and I are no strangers to this, because I have been moving houses every few years since we ended third grade together. We have stayed friends through every move, and I have no doubt we will stay friends through this move too, but this move is different for both of us. The picture I picked for this article is of us as children, showing just how long we have been friends. I love this picture because it reminds me of how much fun we used to have as kids, and it reminds me how much we have grown up since then.

When I moved to Virginia, leaving you in Maryland, we were appalled at the one hour drive between us. Now that drive doesn't seem so bad, because we've been doing it for years. That drive is nothing compared to our now four hour drive. We'll probably only see each other in person during holiday breaks, and that's really hard to accept. We don't see each other in person very much now, but it's going to be even harder to meet up with this new distance.

I want you to know that this move will change things, but I don't ever want to stop being friends with you. It's going to be hard to stay in touch as often as we have been - with both of our schedules I don't know if we can still talk every day like we want to and have been for years. It really worries me that I'm doing something so time consuming like pre-med, which is famous for isolating students due to the time commitment. I know I'm going to lose a lot of friends over the next few years - some of which will be people I thought I would be lifelong friends with. I do not want you to be one of those people.

Despite my worries, I really do believe that we will be fine. We have been friends for literally my entire life and all but eight months of yours - I'm not sure either of us know a time where we were not friends. We don't even really get into fights, because we understand each other and have gotten used to our routine. Many times I find myself getting into fights with friends because of miscommunication, but we don't have that problem.

We grew up together, but we still have growing to do and I don't want to do it without you. I'm fairly certain we aren't in danger of ending our friendship in the future, but I wanted to let you know. Even if we tried to stop being friends, I have a feeling our parents wouldn't let that happen, since they're friends too.

Moving away is never easy. I've gotten used to it after my several moves over my lifetime, but this move is different and harder for me. I don't know how to say goodbye to you. I don't know how to say goodbye to my family. Everyone is going their own way and it's really hard to see everyone I love split up around the country. Honestly, splitting up from you is going to be the hardest separation of all of them, because I've never been this far away from you in my life.

This distance isn't forever, though. I envision us as Lily envisioned herself, Marshall and Ted in How I Met Your Mother - on the porch in our old age. It doesn't matter who is with us, because we will both be there, still friends for our whole lives.

We've had so much fun coming up with plans for our future, even though they constantly change. Instead of drinking wine and crying while watching movies in our apartment, we'll be drinking apple juice instead. Rather than being a guitar duo who sings in French, we'll be creating our careers in medicine and journalism. You'll live with dogs in West Virginia at some point, painting on canvas by your window. I'll be in my Chicago apartment, far away from West Virginia, but we'll still be friends.

So ultimately, I don't think this move matters. It's to help me create my future, and time has proved that our friendship can survive anything. I'll miss you like crazy, but I'll also be having the time of my life. Just remember that I love you a lot and nothing will split us up, ever.