Dear Nick and Sarah,

I never imagined I would meet friends like you two. Before we met, I was going through a pretty tough time. I had just started college and because I was so painfully and awkwardly shy, I hadn’t made any friends the entire year. I sat by myself every day at lunch and I would sit in the very back of the classroom to avoid being seen by other students. I was so afraid of being rejected by my fellow classmates that I just avoided human interaction altogether.

Then, I started my first job at the end of the year in May. A few months later, after forcing myself to talk to the other new girl who would also become my best friend by bonding over K-Pop (that’s you, Mimi), you two started working at the same place. For a while, we didn’t talk very often.

I hardly saw you, Sarah, because you only worked mornings on the weekdays while I worked nights and the weekends. But I ended up training you, Nick, and we started getting pretty close. Little did I know that you two and Mimi had already met and had hung out. I guess it was pure fate that would bring all four of us together.

As the summer continued to go by, we brought more people into our friend group: Mike and Jesse. And as our friend group grew, so did our connection. We found things we had similar interests in and we spent pretty much every single weekend together. I can’t remember a time when we weren’t hanging out and creating inside jokes with one another. It was the best summer of my life.

We then threw a surprise birthday party for Nick, a going-away party for a friend at work, celebrated Mimi and Jesse’s wedding together, had a little Friendsgiving of our own, we had a Christmas party, a failed cosplaying New Year’s Eve party (sorry, Sarah…), and other special occasions.

I know I will never forget going to see my favorite musical “Wicked” at the Providence Performing Arts Center, which happened to be Mike’s very first musical—you’re welcome, Mike! There are so many memories to count, including some unfavorable ones, that it’s hard to really recount them all.

You can probably assume that when I found out you were going to be leaving for Florida soon, I was completely devastated. I’ve never had a good knack for getting a sense for people; I’ve befriended all the wrong people who have either betrayed me or simply thrown me to the curb for something better. And here we all were, getting along and having the greatest time.

I remember telling my sister after hanging out with you guys for so long that I was so excited because “they don’t make fun of me!” Now, that might sound really screwed up, but for years, ever since I was a little girl, I had surrounded myself with people who brought me down in order to make themselves feel good.

And the most twisted part of it was that I just going back because I had no one else. I was too shy and awkward to break off my friendships with these people and I was too crippling shy to talk anyone else and make friends with others. Then in walk Mimi, Nick, Sarah, Mike, and Jesse—all in order of appearance—and you’ve all become my best friends.

When I found out you two, Nick and Sarah, we’re planning on moving away and Mimi and Jesse were thinking about going, too, my heart broke. I couldn’t believe I had found such incredible friends only for them all to be taken away from me. I couldn't help but think how cruel the universe had to be to split us all up. Even though we had only known each other for a year, we had grown incredibly close. We all shared our deepest, darkest secrets with one another and we’d had so many memories it was hard to believe we’d have to let each other go.

At some point, though, I realized even though you two had to go to Florida, we still had a few months left to continue making memories. We still had time to hang out and do fun things and have good times. We still had time. And that’s what we all kept in mind as the months continued going by. I even started talking about moving to Florida with you two and Mimi and Jesse after I graduated RIC. I think I knew in the back of my mind I wouldn’t be able to afford it, but I wanted to keep hope alive that I would be able to see you guys again.

As the months started winding down and our time began running out, some plans fell through and Mimi and Jesse announced they were going to stay and Mike would move in with them. You two, Nick and Sarah, would be the only ones going to Florida. That created a little tension between us, but it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle.

Once the summer started, we knew we only had until about July to really make our last few months together count. We went to Newport, had a graduation party for Rachel, went to laser tag, had a barbecue, threw you both a going-away party, and so much more! It felt like it would never end, but we all had the internal clock tick-tick-ticking the weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds we had left with one another.

Before we knew it, July reared it’s ugly head and you guys started packing. We still spent as many nights together as possible but it was harder since everyone had such different work schedules. The internal clocks turned into a ticking time bomb that would eventually scatter us apart. Then, the day finally came.

When you two first left, it felt so surreal. We all almost expected you guys to only be gone for a few days, maybe a couple weeks at most. But at the end of July, August came, then September, and as the months went by it became increasingly clear you both wouldn’t be gone for just a few weeks.

Four years. About 1,460 days until you two would return to New England and we all be together again. It feels like it’s going to be an eternity. Plus, a lot can change in four years. Different career paths could continue to pull us apart or you two might decide to stay in Florida. It’s scary to think if we’ll still be friends after all those years pass us by. But I’ve learned it’s dangerous to think that far ahead: it causes unnecessary anxiety.

Instead of thinking about where we’re all be four years from now, we need to look forward to the next breaks or vacations that will bring us together. We need to think about all the holidays breaks in the winter that will take place over the next four years. We need to keep in mind the spring breaks and the long summer vacations. We can’t dwell on the negatives in our situation. We had to think, plan, and look forward to the times when we’ll be reunited, if only for brief periods of time.

I know that’s what I’ve been doing. After all, now that the new year is finally upon us, it’s going to be about three more months until spring break when I’ll be making the trip to visit you two. Hopefully, the other three will be able to make it somehow as well and we can all visit Disney World.

Then, of course, there are our summer vacations when you two will hopefully be able to come back up to hang for a few weeks and catch up. And there are always ways to keep in touch. While we obviously text still, there’s also FaceTime, Snapchat, and many other different ways we can get in touch.

Like I said before, there’s a lot of negatives to dwell on in our situation that can really bring us down. But what use will that do us? As long as we can still communicate and make plans during special breaks in school, there are always positives to look at.

So, as these four years continue to eek by, we can decide to be brought down by the sad parts or we can reminisce in all of our great memories and think of all the new ones we’ll be making when we get to see each other. And those four years will go by in a heartbeat.

After all, with everything that’s happened this past year, I’ve certainly learned laughter is the best medicine.

Until the next time we meet. I love you both,

Michelle