I like to think that everyone has a best friend. I also like to think that I have been extra blessed by the best friend who God handed to me in my backyard on a random, sunny day in second grade. It's amazing how you never see it coming. One day you don't know someone, and the next you can't imagine life without them.

A best friend is very valuable, and when you find them, never let them go. I met my best friend when I was seven years old. Our moms walked us outside to do the whole "meet the new neighbors" thing, and I suppose something just clicked. We began to hang out every day and spend every minute together (or at least every minute our moms would let us). To this day, I can still dial her home phone number at record speed on my family's landline. We stuck together through everything! We were there for the awkward phases, the first dates, the heart breaks, the successes and the failures. Even when we were apart for months at a time, we always came back, and it was like nothing had changed.

To you, best friend, I would like to say thank you:

Thank you for laughing with me.

Thank you for sticking around even through the awkward middle school (and high school, let's be honest) stages.

Thank you for keeping me in line.

Thank you for being my second home and sharing your family with me.

Thank you for agreeing with me when I vent about something and always offering to beat someone up.

Thank you for taking pictures with me when we “accidentally” wear matching outfits, when we do something fun or even when we just feel cute.

Thank you for always letting me be the teacher when we played pretend school as kids.

Thank you for having lazy days with me.

Thank you for fan-girling when that cute boy we were both crushing on sends one of us a text.

Thank you for riding roller coasters with me, even though you hate them.

Thank you for eating too much with me and then choosing to eat even more. Because, why not?

Thank you for always liking my Instagram pictures.

Thank you for going out with me when you don’t feel like it simply because I'm dressed up and want to show off my new outfit.

Thank you for dreaming about (and stressing about) our futures with me.

Thank you for adventuring with me.

Thank you for never letting boys come between us.

Thank you for being my favorite third-wheel and letting me be yours.

Thank you for listening to me.

Thank you for trusting me and always supporting me.

Thank you for always being a phone call or a text away.

Thank you for never giving up on me.

Thank you for loving me unconditionally.

But most of all, thank you for being my person.

A best friend is made for the adventures you don't want to take on alone, and I'm thankful you were here for every single one of them. I hope every girl finds her future maid-of-honor, partner in crime, sister and best friend, and when you do, make sure she knows how much you love her.

Here's to 13 years of memories, and here's to a lifetime of more.