We all have that one special friend who has always been at our side when we were growing up. You live in the same town and you have been inseparable from kindergarten to high school. She is the peanut butter to your jelly, the pepperoni to your pizza and the bacon to your eggs. You have gone through the awkward middle school phase together wearing matching braces and singing at the top of your lungs Justin Bieber’s songs while dancing in the living room.

You have played together to be super models and took pictures of each other while your mom was laughing in the kitchen. You are still trying to lose the extra pounds you gained at your wild pajamas parties in which there was too much junk food and not enough sleep. She is your hometown best friend and, even if know you might be studying in two different colleges, she will always hold a special spot in your heart.

Here are 5 things you should thank your hometown best friend for:

1. Keeping you on the loop.

Since I don’t live in Italy anymore, my friend Rocio has become my trusted #1 source of information on the gossip that happens in my hometown. She always knows who broke up with who, the name of the hair stylist’s new baby, if the new sushi place is worth a shot and what the new fashion piece that everyone is wearing is. Your best friend will keep you updated on all the changes that happen in your hometown.

2. Listening to your crazy stories without judging.

Because she has known you the longest, she knows most of your secrets and she is used to your weird stories. The moment I like the most is when I come back to my hometown and I get to catch up with my best friend sipping a hot chocolate in our favorite coffee shop. We take turns to tell each other what happened in all these months that we have been apart and, after that day, it feels like we have never left.

3. Making you feel at home.

When I first come back to my hometown, I am always a little bit disoriented. The familiar place that I called home for 18 years of my life appears like a stranger. My best friend knows that and she always helps me to readjust to my old life. She makes me reconnect with our usual friend group and she always drags me to every concert, party or festival that is going on in my city. She really makes me feel home again.

4. Sticking at your side through thick and thin.

Your hometown best friend will always have your back, not matter what. I think that we finf who our real friends are when we are going through a tough time. Hometown best friends function like a safety net that supports you when you are experiencing a hard time. You can always counts on each other, no matter what.

5. Always remembering you.

Your home town best friend never forgets about you. Every two weeks my friend Rocio shots me a text to check on me and to tell me some new fresh gossip. I really love getting her text because it shows me that even if we study in two different countries, I am still very important to her.

She also always invites me to participate to the various summer trips she organizes with our friend group and she is the first to ask me when I am coming back home. Hometown best friends are the hardest goodbye and the happiest hello. We share with them an unbreakable bond that neither time or distance can destroy.

If you know a person like this, you are lucky. You have found a friend for life!