Dear high school friends,
We’ve known each other since we were all around 3 years old. We shared cubbies on our first day of preschool and we’ve continued to share milestones throughout our lives. Being in a small community allowed us to remain faithfully by each other’s sides for the first 18 years of our lives as we all navigated the many struggles of growing up. We survived anything that the world threw at us. We hugged it out on the couch in our third-grade classroom after a fight in the lunch room over chili and Fritos, and we spent nights together when we were afraid to be alone after losing one of our own. We celebrated first kisses, first drinks, college acceptance letters, graduation, and much more along the way.
Now that we have moved out of our parents’ houses and gained our independence, we’ve also gained lives of our own, separate from one another. These days we’re navigating college, graduations, engagements, babies, and full-blown adult lives. Our lives are very different, as is our friendship. We may not talk as frequently as we’d like and sometimes it feels like there are oceans between us instead of just a two-hour drive down some back roads. Despite the fact that sometimes growing up means growing apart, I still love you all more than I can put into words.
As we mark exciting new milestones together, I am so grateful to have you. Regardless of the new friends I have made along my journey or the friends I will make in the future, nobody can ever replace the group of people I grew up with. You will always be such a huge part of who I am, and I am so thankful for that. I am thankful that with every new life milestone, we can drink, dance, and celebrate together like time hasn’t touched us.
I love you all more than my words can possibly convey, and I love who I get to be when we are all together. There is a very special part in my life and in my heart that could never be filled by anyone but you. Thank you for helping to make me the woman that I am today, and thank you for being my friends for life.
Love,
The one who moved away and misses you like crazy
