To my OG BFF,

Where do I begin with you? You have been such an important person in my life since day one. From the get go, you knew the way to my heart: with food. I was the new girl in your third grade class, but when you saw me at the track meet that April night, you were so excited to find out I lived on that side of the county! From that day forward, we were linked at the hip. Next thing I knew, it was sleepovers, helping out with the newspaper you’re stepmom wrote, and teaching me how to make ‘noodles, milk and cheese’.

We went through a lot of major milestones together; deaths, marriages, camping trips, road trips, boyfriends, heartbreak, the list goes on and on. But no matter what was going on in our lives, we had each other though all of it.

We went to separate middle schools; I remember you telling me about all these new friends you were making, and I would keep you updated on our friends from elementary school. We would talk on the phone almost every night, or we would just show up at each other’s houses, because, let’s be honest, our parents didn’t mind.

One memory in particular that has been on my mind, was when we went to Disney for a whole week with my family. We were old enough to take the busses around the campground alone and we were trying to find our way back to the campground from the outpost. We needed to be on the orange bus, but there was a really cute guy getting on the yellow bus. You turned to me and asked, “What bus again?” And I said, “Orange, why?” To which you replied while motioning towards him, “No, I think we need to be on the yellow bus.”

That probably seems like such a random, inconsequential memory, but to this day, almost 10 years later, we still talk about it. I still remember so many great moments of our lives together, and am excited for the new memories to still come.

You got married this weekend and it was such a joy to see you and Matt make things legal. (It took y’all long enough!) There was one moment after you put your dress on, before we walked down the isle, when you looked at me and I smiled and we just hugged. It lasted maybe 30-45 seconds, but I could feel our whole life just rushing through me. I am so unbelievably happy for you and Matt. The love you two have for each other, is what others dream of.

You are my OG BFF, my Treston Bootsie Fandango, my sister, my keeper of awkward middle school memories. I hope you and Matt have the best life together, but I still expect to meet you at Pudgee’s for hotdogs and fries every April.