The hardest thing I ever had to do was move my entire life 958 miles away from the only place I ever knew as my home. At 16, you're supposed to be driving and going to pep rallies and going to the mall with your friends, not packing up and moving away. But, I had made that decision to become a part of something greater and to be a part of my incredible family that I had just got the opportunity to know. While I couldn't wait to see what the future had in store for me, there was something in my life I would definitely been missing.

My best friend Rebecca and I met 8 years ago. Since then, we've been through a whole lot and like every relationship, we've had some rough patches. But, we've conquered everything together. She's been there through breakups and deaths and the difficulties of adapting to a new life and area. She's been my rock, my confidant, and my person through everything and not being able to see her every day was and is something that I struggle with still after four years.

Not only is it hard not being able to share and experience everything, but being away from your best friend comes with its own conflicts in itself. Moving away, you make new friends, become involved, and lose contact with people you thought you'd be friends with forever. You also change over time, sometimes for the good or the bad. Sometimes you lose sight of what's important and don't make time for the people who matter, and realize when it's too late that you could have prevented it from happening if you only made the time.

I'm happy to say, Rebecca and I have always found our way back to each other. Even in my stupidest moments, she has always loved and supported me without judgement, and I hope I've done the same for her. We don't speak every day, or even every week, but we don't need to. Every time we speak, it's just us picking up where we left off, and it's just as great. To me, that's what friendship is. Even though we live 20 hours away from each other, the distance between us won't break the bonds of our friendship. I know that through the power of modern technology, she's always close to me and we'll never really be apart, and just this previous summer, she visited me for the first time since I left Alabama.

Throughout the years, we have become a lot closer, and I think we depend on each other a lot more since we've gotten older. She's become my person, and I know one day she'll be my maid-of-honor, and eventually the best aunt my children could ever have. Perhaps we won't always have so many miles between us, but even if we do, I know she'll always be my biggest fan and #1 gal.