We've been best friends since we could remember and grew up doing everything together. From running around outside during the summer, to school, to drinking in a bar at 23 not knowing how we ended up where we were. You've been there through it all. So first and foremost, thank you for being there for all these years and not giving up on our friendship.

Thank you for the young years of us laughing at nothing, watching endless hours of cartoons, and eating ice cream until we got yelled at for having too much. For not tattling when we did something dumb, like making up a game where you were getting clobbered with a ball. For playing Barbies and soccer together and running around outside playing endless hours of tag. Thank you for singing and dancing to Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, and Britney Spears with me; pretending that one day, we'd end up pop stars.

Thank you for standing by me through the years when popularity started to matter and not caring whether we were the popular ones or not, because we had each other. When what you wore to school started to take hold of what others thought you were, when you made other friends who were "cooler" or you thought you liked better. Thank you for never letting me question our friendship, even though there may have been a day or two when we didn't get along. Thank you for trying uncool hair styles and butterfly clips with me. Thank you for learning with me that body glitter shouldn't be a thing, and that scrunchies weren't as cool as I thought (really, you had my back on that).

Thank you for being there when I had my first boyfriend in sixth grade, and realized in eighth grade that he was never actually a boyfriend because we held hands one time, also when we realized that eighth grade boyfriends weren't the best "boyfriends" either. Thank you for being there when my first boyfriend in eleventh grade and I broke up. You helped wipe away tears that I didn't think would ever happen. Thank you for being the one I can text about a boy at any time of day. Thank you for telling me who the good ones are or the bad ones, and for telling me my college boyfriend wasn't the right one, no matter how hard it was to hear.

Thank you for eating lunch with me in high school and laughing with me in the hallways. We never cared if we laughed too loudly and if people looked because we were always having fun. Thank you for helping with homework, projects and anything else high school made us do. I knew if we had to partner up in class for assignments, you'd be the best one. Thank you for drinking alcohol with me for the first time and not judging me for how little I could actually drink. Thank you for still not judging me for how little I can drink, even though we're over 21.

Thank you for spending the day with me before I left for college. I was so much more nervous and scared than I ever admitted. We always said we couldn't wait to leave our small town, but I was mostly scared because I knew I'd have to find myself and I didn't want you to not like whoever I found myself to be.

Thank you for still being my friend through college, no matter how long it was since we last spoke or saw each other. Thank you for being my friend even though we're long out of college. Visiting is hard with life and schedules, but we try the best we can.

Thank you for letting your parents be my parents. For letting them teach me about life, yell at me when we messed up, celebrate together when something amazing happened and for letting them wipe away tears, whether it be a death in the family or a scrape on my knee at the age of seven. I cherish them so much more than you know.

Thank you for opening your life to me and letting me get to know your family members. Thank you for introducing me to your new friends who you've become close with as we've gotten older, even the ones who you're closer with now than we are. I'm glad you have people who are as fiercely loyal to you as I am because I know they'll have your back if I can't be around.

Thank you for not being my best friend but my sister. Thank you for the reminder that we don't have to talk every day to know that we'll always be best friends. Thank you for the assurance in knowing that no matter the time or day, if I ever really needed someone, I know that you'll be there. Thank you for the years of friendship that go beyond memories of being a kid or drinking at a college party. We've been through so much more than that, I can't thank you enough for it all.