10 years ago, I was a seven-year-old plaid-skirt-wearing private school girl from sunny Florida, leaving my first home to move to Augusta. I remember how scared I was to move to a different state at such a young age. However, all of that fear soon subsided when the girl with the bangs down the street introduced herself, and we became fast friends as all elementary school girls do. My first Georgia friend turned into my very first best friend, who I share my best early childhood memories with. Yet that’s all she is to me now, nothing but a memory.
We have been taught from a young age that it is OK to “outgrow friendships.” In fact, it’s normal! Yet how perplexing is it to think about how someone who used to be one of the most important people in your life can go to being someone that you just outgrew? Someone that you had left behind and forgotten as you grew older. For as long as I can remember, I have always been more of a friend oriented person than a family oriented person, and as I begin this new college chapter of my life, I can’t help but be upset about the present friendships that I will have to leave behind in just a short amount of time. These friendships that I am soon to outgrow and that will soon too become just a memory of that certain chapter of my life.
Three years ago, I was a 14-year-old high school freshman who wanted nothing more than to fit in like everyone else. That same year the blonde girl on my cheerleading team became my (you guessed it) best friend. I soon found myself neglecting my other friends because I was too busy with my new “BFF” by my side. Long story short, that didn’t last long. However, even if the friendship was toxic, I do not regret my years spent as her friend. Even if I don’t want to admit it, some of my best memories were made with her by my side and the relationship ultimately taught me what a true friendship really is.
Only one month ago, I was a week old high school graduate, I was back in my birth state of sunny Florida with my group of friends on our senior trip. We were celebrating the end of our four-year journey and the beginning of the rest of our lives. On the last day, I remember it finally hitting me that I would never see some of these people ever again but a couple more times in my life. We would soon all be at different colleges where we would make new friends and new memories.
Memories. When you think about your past friendships, isn’t that the first thing you remember? More often than not, your initial thought is not why you all stopped being friends or how much you miss that person but the memories you made with them in that certain chapter of your life. I wholeheartedly believe that every single person sent by God to be in your life has a specific different purpose, be it to be a blessing or a lesson. I now realize that it’s okay to let go of these friendships if they do become lost, because I trust that God will be the one to close the right doors when the time is right, as well as open up new ones.
Ten years from now, I will be 27. I will have new friends, and who knows, maybe even keep some old ones. The one thing I do know for sure though is that no matter where I go in life or who I meet or lose, I will always keep the same memories. I know now that it really is okay to outgrow friendships, because ultimately you can’t outgrow the memories or the lessons you gained from your relationship with that person.
To my best friends of the past, present and future: thanks for the memories.
