Once a young girl or boy enters middle school, life constantly changes. The years of middle school, high school, and college are the years where one finds oneself. Through laughs, heartbreak, drama and many memories, you end up exactly where and who you are supposed to be. These years are definitely not easy, but that is why we have best friends.
Best friends are many different things wrapped up in one person, and without these individuals our teenage years would be extremely difficult to manage. The term “best friend” usually comes across as meaning that there can only be one. Of course you will always have your "ride or die," but I truly believe that at these three different stages in life you have different best friends that help you grow into yourself. Each one helps us grow in different ways, and for that we should be appreciative – because without them, who would we have become?
To my best friends in middle school:
Thank you for loving me through my awkward stage, because if you got through that with me, we will no doubt be best friends for life. Thank you for sitting with me at lunch when I felt like I had no one else. Thank you for sticking up for me when others picked on me, and for always reassuring me that one day everything would be different. Thank you for walking to the grocery store and the movie theater with me when our parents could not drive us. Thank you for loving me when I made mistakes when we got into high school, and thank you for always being my supporters and confidantes even though we were not in the same friend group. Most of all, thank you for giving me a friendship that has stayed strong all these years, even without constant communication.
To my best friends in high school:
Thank you for being the friends that were there through all the "firsts." Thank you for letting me stay the night for days at a time and not telling me to go home even if you got annoyed. Thank you for always being my therapists, my partners in crime, my consuls, and basically everything else. Thank you for telling me when I was in the wrong, but loving me despite it. Thank you for dressing like a complete maniac at all sporting events and during spirit weeks with me. Thank you for dealing with my constant complaining about boys that broke my heart and girls I did not like. Thank you for being my best friends when we got separated after graduation, and still being my partners in crime every summer. Thank you for understanding that although we make new friends on our different journeys, we will always hold a special place in each other’s hearts. Lastly, thank you for being the people that I know will always be my best friend, because let's be real – you know way too much.
To my best friends in college:
Thank you for helping me get through the first year of college that felt like a totally different universe. Thank you for being my second-closet, weekend-adventure companions and late night movie buddies. Thank you for not judging or making fun of me when I tell you my stories on Sunday mornings (even though yours are far worse). Thank you for listening to my monthly mental breakdowns that are far too dramatic. Thank you for sitting in study rooms at the library with me until 3 a.m. Our Dutch Bro dates are highly appreciated, trust me. Thank you for putting me in my place, because Lord knows I need it. Thank you for laughing at me when I get irrationally mad and not holding it against me later. Thank you for going to my favorite frat with me, even though it is not yours. I could not imagine a life without you, and if we can survive college, nothing could ever break us. Thank you for helping make these four years the best years of my life.
You are all the real MVPs, and I thank you.
