Dear Best Friend,
It's been a few years since I last got to see you and talk to you, a few years since we had to say goodbye forever. I still remember every second of the time we spent together before God called you home, and not a day goes by that I don't miss you terribly. I often still find myself thinking of those times, and wondering what it is that you're doing at this very moment. I guess that kind of wondering never really goes away. But I'm not writing this letter to tell you all of that stuff. Those are things you already know. I'm writing this letter right now as a thank-you note. It's almost seven years late, but it's something I need to do.
Honestly, it's not an exaggeration when I say that you taught me almost everything I know, or will ever know. Obviously, my parents were the ones who taught me how to walk and talk, and my teachers taught me all of my material knowledge, but what you taught me was so much more. You taught me that hope is more important than anything else in the world, just by being the strongest person I've ever known. Even after you got sick, I can't recall a moment when you weren't smiling. I don't remember you ever losing hope, and looking back, I will never understand how you managed it. Now, even seven years later and looking ahead towards my sophomore year of college, I make every effort to live each day the way you might. After all, it only makes sense to model myself after the single most incredible person I've ever known.
You taught me that illness and physical condition does not define a person, and that no matter what happens, the only thing we can do is continue to push forward. You taught me how to be a fighter, and how to help other people when they are in need. You showed me the importance of friendship, the power of words, and a kind of dignity nobody else ever has. In every moment I spent with you, I was learning, and for every moment after I have used those lessons to do my best to make the world a better place.
There's an old quote you used to love, and I think of it almost every day. I guess it's my way of putting everything into perspective. When I get stressed out, or I feel overwhelmed, I'll sit down, take a few breaths, and say it quietly to myself. "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, and that's why it's called the present." Maybe someone else may interpret it differently than I do, but to me, the quote is telling the reader to do our best with the time we have, and to live in the moment without worrying to much about the future or dwelling on the past. Today is a gift, so we need to do the best we can with the time we have given to us.
Over the past few years, I've learned that it doesn't really matter how good you are at calculating an equation, or how much you know about the Ancient Egyptians, or how well you play an instrument. All that matters is that we use the gifts we are given to contribute to a brighter world. I said goodbye to you when we were twelve, but somehow, I don't think it was truly a goodbye. I like to think that sometimes you're still around, and although I would love nothing more than to thank you in person for everything you've done for me, and continue to do, I know that I can't. So please accept this letter as the spoken "thank-you" I never got to give.
I miss you. I love you. I thank you. And I hope Heaven is coolio.
Love,
Laura
