I can't believe out of all the people in my life, you're the one that has stuck by my side the longest. You've literally been there by my side through everything. I met you when I was pretty much just born; you were two months old. Your grandma and my mom worked together so she brought you over to meet me when I was born — even though neither of us knew what was going on, of course. At that moment, little did we both know that we would still be best friends 18 years later. Why not throw in a silly picture to start us off this letter to such an incredible friend?
Let's start from the beginning, well the beginning that we can both remember: preschool. Mount Pleasant Baptist Church preschool to be exact. That's where all the great memories began. We sat beside each other on the reading carpet and always played outside together during recess. Oh, and let's not forget our teacher setting us up to sleep in the closet during nap time because we both snored and would keep the other kids awake. Remember the time you pushed me down the giant staircase from the top when we were leaving one day? I probably fell down 60 steps. It was an accident of course, but I was four so all I did was cry — a lot. I was never mad at you for that, I know you didn't mean to, but looking back on it now, I realize how funny it actually was. That accident was only the beginning of our journey together.
Shall we talk about the middle school days, next? Silly bands and "I love boobies" bracelets were the latest fashion statements. This was the transition stage for us as teenagers, learning about changing classes and growing up. It's a hard time to live through, but we did it together. You always stuck by my side no matter what the circumstances were. This is the stage of life where people are fully developing friendships and I'm glad you chose me to not only stay in your life, but call me your best friend. I love you so much.
High school, the best four years of your life? Well, that's what everybody says. I say they're the fastest years of your life — they fly bye. You were honestly the only person who I could be around all the time and not get annoyed by. You were the only person who would eat lunch with me so I wasn't alone looking like a loser; thank you for that. Our many last minute study sessions before a big test were always fun. We're such procrastinators, but we always managed to survive. You got your drivers license before me. Man, was I jealous of you for that. My calls in the afternoon that always went something like this, "Hey, are you hungry?", or "Hey, wanna go get some food?" You were like my personal Uber driver, thank you for that.
Senior year tech center, we were both at clinicals, you at the orthodontist and me at the nursing home. I remember, the only thing that would get me through the day was thinking that I was going to meet you for lunch, usually at Chipotle or El Caporal, so we could catch up and rant about how much we hated our clinical sites even though we knew we both loved them and our patients. Oh, one more thing, thank you for sitting beside me in first period dual enrollment senior year. I wouldn't have wanted to complain about the endless papers we had to write in that class with anybody else except you. My favorite memory from high school though was walking across the stage at graduation with you right by my side. There were only three people between us at graduation because our last names were so close. Seeing you walk across the stage and knowing I was going to very shortly after, was one of the greatest feelings I've ever experienced. Thank you for pushing me to be the best I could be all through school, I don't know what I would have done, or how I would have survived without you. Oh, one more thing, thank you for sitting beside me in first period dual enrollment senior year. I wouldn't have wanted to complain about the endless papers we had to write in that class with anybody else except you.
Here it goes, probably the most emotional part of this letter that I'm going to write. We're growing up, we're going to college soon. Very soon, I leave in two weeks and you start before that. Richard Bland and Radford, three and a half hours, two hundred twelve miles apart. This isn't going to be a good bye by any means, it will be a see you later. The hardest see you later I'll have to go through. I don't know what I'm going to do without you being by my side all the time, or just a simple phone call away. It's going to be rough, that's for sure. We're both going into the medical field, you into dental and I'm going into nursing. Remember, even though I'm going to be far away, that doesn't mean you can't visit me. Plus, I'll be coming home over breaks. Thank you for helping me follow my dreams of becoming a nurse practitioner and keeping me motivated even in the darkest and lowest times.
Well, of course I love you. Of course, I don't know what I'd do without you. I'm so proud of everything you've accomplished this far in your life. You're pretty cool, I guess. A good friend knows all your best stories, but a best friend has lived them with you, and of course you have. We're going to be the old ladies in the nursing home that all the nurses are going to be fighting not to have. Please stay in my life forever, because you're by far the best thing that has ever happened to me.
