I think sometimes, we just get lucky. We get lucky when we stumble across the path of another, the right path. The one that leads us to instant immediacy and comfort, leaving us knowing that we have encountered someone special. You find someone that, in that instant, you automatically know you were meant to meet. Some friendships are easier than others, but the best friendships are the ones that you don’t have to work at, that enable you to just be yourself within minutes of meeting them; no pleasantries, no facades, no show. Just you, and just them. It should be easy. That’s how you know you’ve found a true and sweet friend.

Sweet friends, I am lucky for you. I’m lucky that you make all of this easy. That I have someone to call even when they live across the hall. I’m lucky that sometimes, silence is enough. I’m lucky that I found someone like you, you who laughs at my jokes even though they aren’t funny, you who gives me confidence when I am lacking, wipes away my tears on the long days, and makes me laugh just when I need it the most. I am lucky that I have found someone to embrace their goofy side with me, someone who is fiercely fearless in the world before us. I have found you, sweet friends, who give me courage as you take away my fears, even when that means burdening my fears upon your own heart.

I didn’t know the significance of a friend until I saw what a true friend really was. You as sweet friends are honest and kind, strong and able. Sweet friends, you are crazy. You are wild. You are kind. You bring out the best in me, and I hope I bring out the best in you. You see me for who I am and I love your heart. My oh my, sweet friend, you are a friend who reminds me of where my heart lies, a friend who stays up until the earliest hours of the morning mumbling nonsense with me just because we don’t want to sleep, a friend who makes me laugh until I cry with just a look in my direction, a friend who calls me for hours with nothing real to say but to laugh and love, a friend who says it all with a sideways glance that makes it seem like they can read your mind, even the old friend that doesn’t forget about me, even when you make new ones.

I have these sweet friends in all shapes in sizes, some with southern twangs and kind, warming eyes, some with silly smiles and goofy hearts, some with wild sides and soft sides, some with hearts far away, others just a phone call. I’m blessed by these sweet friends, lucky to call them my own, and grateful for these paths that crossed so perfectly.