Dear Ex-Friend,

Thank you. Thank you for ignoring my texts and ditching my plans. Thank you for showing me your true colors.

You showed me that commitment isn't your strong suit and that you didn’t care enough about our friendship or me.

I know people change. I know people move on and meet new people. I know that keeping touch with someone isn’t always easy. I know that maintaining a friendship requires a lot of effort. What I don’t know and what I fail to comprehend is the lack of effort. Despite it not being easy, why did you stop trying?

You stopped trying to make things work for us and it baffles me completely. I cannot understand how a person can simply stop trying to make time to see someone that they were so close to. We shared secrets, memories, experiences, hardships, losses, along with anything and everything else. We spent practically everyday together telling each other stories about how we embarrassed ourselves YET AGAIN in front of a cute boy or how we our both equally irritated by the remixes of popular songs DJ’s play on the radio (Drowning Adele's sweet and soulful bravado with a mix of rave beats is a crime). We spent so much more money than we should have on fries, cookies, and Oreo shakes and less time wondering how many calories it’ll take to make our bodies physically implode. We created culinary inventions like tortilla chips with Nutella and watched re-runs of the Proud Family on repeat. We would take turns going over each other’s houses and spending time with each other’s families; even your three-year-old little sister who would pull on the ends of my hair all the time for her own personal child-like amusement. We would memorize the lyrics to Nicki Minaj’s latest rap and cry over how cute Drake was(and still is). We would live with each other and for each other. Then, just like that, it all stopped.

I didn’t see you everyday. I didn’t talk to you for hours on the phone about that boy. I still got irritated about the music that would play on the radio but you were no longer in the passenger seat next to me. You gave me money for my birthday instead of an actual heartfelt gift because you were too lazy to try to think of something that I would like. Something that showed that you knew me completely. Something that showed that our friendship was still there.

You cancelled our plans to go to the beach that one time because you were too busy with "school." You cancelled that other time, and the time after that. You told me it wasn’t your fault, that things just got too hard, and that “friends come and go.”

You told me you were sorry but that our friendship “could never be the same.” You told me it was "bound to happen." You told me that it was "too hard." You didn't tell me the truth. You didn't tell me that you simply stopped trying.

I just want to let you know that I never stopped. I never saw it as being “too hard” and I never saw you as that friend who would "come and go." I thought you cared enough to make an effort because you need me in your life. Just like I need you.

I know I was wrong. I know that you were not who I thought you were but I still want to thank you. I want to thank you because now I know who my real friends are. I know how to distinguish between the people in my life who will stay and the ones that will go. The ones that need me just as much as I need them. The ones that won’t just come and go, but never let go. They will never let go of the bond we have; not because they are willing to try but because if they don't try, they will feel like they are missing a part of themselves.

I now know that I have friends who care. I have friends that don’t lose touch. I have friends that come, but could never go.

Best Regards,

Your New Acquaintance