Dear Best Friend,
This is the hardest thing I’ve had to do. Let me be clear, I don’t hate you. I don’t wish you ill-will and I truly hope you have the best time of your life. We might have stopped talking because I was angry or irrational, or maybe you were. Right now, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you know that the fight was coming and it wasn’t your fault or my fault.
We were best friends at a time when being best friends made sense. We saw each other almost every day, we had countless inside jokes, and we were there for each other through thick and thin. But, we grew up and our lives have taken us down different paths. The problem is that even though everything about our lives have changed, we try to pretend that our friendship is the same. Constantly, we act like nothing has changed, but everything has changed and that’s okay. What’s not okay is trying to force our friendship to be something it was years ago. Instead of growing our relationship, we tried to keep it the same.
We stopped talking the same way. Every few months or so we’d have a day where we check-in and it didn’t really feel like a friendship. Sometimes you’d come back into my life for help, but then leave once everything was okay. Sometimes, I would do the same thing. Our inside jokes weren’t funny anymore and I saw you maybe four times out of the entire year. You made other friends, you had other inside jokes, and you forgot about me. I forgot about you, and for that, I’m sorry. The fights became a regular way to end things between us. After months, we’d come back to each other apologizing, and then we’d repeat the cycle.
I miss you. You probably miss me. But, you miss the me you met years ago. You miss the me you were friends with through the school years. I’m not that person anymore. I miss you. I miss the you from years ago, but you are not that person anymore. Life has changed us, and you have changed me for the better. We came into each other’s lives to teach each other a lesson, but all lessons have to come to an end. It’s bittersweet having to say goodbye to you, my best-friend. I hate that we have traveled separate paths, but I’m happy that I got to know you.
There’s a day I long for, and you probably do too. A day where we are much older, far wiser, and we cross paths on the street or at a restaurant. I’ve noticed you across the room and I smile. I smile because I see how well you are doing, and I can see all that life has given you. You’ve noticed me, and you wave excitedly. You want to come over and say hello, but you are pressed for time. So, I give a simple wave back and watch you carry on with your life, knowing the difference you have made in mine. I’m happy, because you are happy.
It wasn’t your fault and it wasn’t mine. We are on different paths and we’re doing different things. You mean the world to me, but it’s time to say goodbye. I promise you’ll always hold a special place in my heart. So I’ll leave you with a quote, a quote by one of my favorite characters: Betty Suarez,
“I’ve had to say goodbye more times than I may have liked, but everyone can say that. And no matter how many times we do it – even if it’s for the greater good, it still stings. And although we will never forget what we’ve given up, we owe it to ourselves to keep moving forward. What we can’t do is live our lives afraid of the next goodbye because chances are they are not going to stop. The trick is to recognize when goodbye can be a good thing – when it’s a chance to start again”.
Forever and Always,
Your Former Best-Friend
