Dear best friend,

So first and foremost I would like to state that I suck at stuff like this but you already know that so its okay. So, butthole here's my letter to you and if you don't cry by the end of this the friendships off... I'm just kidding actually no I'm not. Thank you for sticking around and for not getting fed up with me and leaving, like most everyone else does. I know at times I'm annoying and a handful but you've managed it so far and I hope you continue to manage it for a couple I mean many more years. I am so proud of you and how bold you are.

This past year has been really tough for you but you never compromised. You continued to be bold and stand up for what you believe in. It did not go unnoticed in fact its one of the many things I love about you. You have the best heart. The love you have for people is outrageous. I know that in the years to come I can count on you to be there and hit me with hard truth. You never let me take the easy way out and because of that, I am a better person. Before we were friends I was a jerk. I had my mind made up that popularity was the key to being happy but I was wrong. I was so wrong that it almost killed me.

I don't mean for this to sound cliché but you saved me.

I remember at the beach retreat junior year when we first became friends. I'm going to be honest with you when I found at we were rooming together I was a little upset because I really just went on the trip for the beach and because my friends were going not for Jesus and I knew that wherever you were there was going to be Jesus. The first night we kind of bonded because of course, I tackled you... what a better way to start a friendship am I right? Lol. I remember getting on stage and telling my testimony the very last day and I had never told anyone, and you were the last person I thought would comfort me because heck, you barely knew me but you were the first person to hug me and tell me that you loved me and I will never forget that.

I never felt like anyone actually cared about me until you came along. Yeah sure everyone "loved" me but it was all for the wrong reason. They loved me because I was the life of the party and there was nothing I would not do to make someone laugh. They loved because they loved what they could get out of me whether it was popularity, friends, etc., but you didn't care about any of that.

You cared about me, Libbie Harden, the hot-headed goofball that just genuinely needed a friend.

I guess I kind of knew in that moment that I was going to do whatever it took to be best friends with you and look at us now. I could not imagine having anyone else to cry to these past two years. You have been the best best friend I could have asked for and I thank you for that.

I know that our friendship hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows, we've had our ups and our downs. Most of the downs were my fault but its OK I take full responsibility. I would not go back and change any of the things that have happened in the past two years because all the good and bad times are what made this friendship so great.

I know that at the end of the day you love me and I love you no matter how mad we get at each other.

I know that we live 440 miles away right now but still you always seem to have my back. Thank you for the constant phone calls. The same sarcasm I'd get if I was right in front of you and many many visits. Thank you for calling me out when I step out of line and for helping me find my way back when I wander off onto the wrong path. Thank you for talking to me on the phone for hours even when you are exhausted. Thank you for making me laugh until I snort and then for making me snort again because you made fun of my snort. Thank you for making the worst but funniest jokes. Thank you for making me a part of your family. I think they all genuinely love me. It's always fun messing with your mom and aggravating your dad.

I know they will always be there for me. They are kinda like my second pair of parents for when my first set isn't working so well. I am so thankful for all the talks I've had with both your mom and your dad even if it was a "Libbie get your crap together" kind of talk! You have the absolute best little siblings. It has been a joy watching all three of them grow over the past two years its been eventful but freaking fun all at the same time.

So, thank you for being someone I can look up to and someone that I can always call for advice.

Thank you for believing in me when I didn't even believe in myself.

Thank you for being my crazy, sometimes annoying, best friend.

I cannot wait for you to be my maid of honor at my wedding and for my kids to call you "Aunt stupid head." I can't wait to have lunch dates where we just talk crap about our husbands and laugh at all our old memories. I can't wait to be nursing home buddies and to trip people with our canes. But until then we have many many many more memories to make. When you signed up to be my best friend you signed up for a life time of crazy somewhat funny jokes. This friendship is an "until death" thing so fasten your seatbelt and get ready because life just started.

Love,

Your best friend