I am too lazy to write you a letter back in handwritten form, so I am blogging to you. I wish I could be home with you for all of these milestones. I wish I was there for your senior prom and award night and big accomplishments. I wish I was home to hug you when boys are being stupid. I wish I was home to wipe your tears when you are sad about graduating. I want to jump with you when you are excited and watch sunsets when you are wistful. I want to be there for you, not just a text away. But, I am 194 miles away. So we do what we can.

I am so proud of you. Not necessarily for graduating high school -- it's kind of an easy feat. I am proud of you for following your passions. Speaking your mind. Not getting back together with your ex. Being yourself. Getting an internship. Pursuing your visions. Only spending money when I am home. I am so proud of you.

I remember the late nights we spent talking about our dreams. I remember the many excited text message updates when you started applying for colleges, getting into colleges, deciding between colleges. I was so excited for you with every acceptance letter, every scholarship essay, every trip to Ole Miss. Soon enough you are going to be 13 hours away from me. Soon enough you will be freezing in Virginia, and I am going to be in the South complaining about the wind chill. Soon enough you will be working towards your dreams and making connections with some really cool people. Soon enough we are totally going to be writing our book. Soon enough we will also totally be on "The Bachelor" just to promote previously stated book. What a life.

Change is strange. Change is scary. And I know we have to go through this change because I left and you are leaving and we have bigger lives to live now, but I always want you near. I want to always be told about your successes, I always want to text in all caps when I am telling you that I'm proud of you. I always want to be a part of your life. And I always want you to be in mine (I know they go hand-in-hand). I know that even though we are both becoming increasingly busy, and our texts have dwindled to sometimes just a few a day, that I will always have someone to send Buzzfeed quizzes to, to send lip syncing videos to, to send handwritten notes to. Thank you.

When I graduated, you texted me, "I am not prepared for you to graduate. I'm not going to get to go on lady dates with you whenever. And I'm not going to see you every day. And I'm not going to get to dress cute with you and take cute pics." And I cried. And I am now here to tell you: I am not prepared for you to graduate. I'm not going to get to go on lady dates with you whenever we are together on random weekends. And I'm not going to see you at the Grove on game days. And I'm not going to get to dress cute with you and take cute pics when I get another tattoo. But, you are prepared to graduate. And you are prepared to move. And I want to help you do that. You deserve to go. You need to go. It's important for your success and happiness and passion.

You are going to do big things. Such big things. I will always be rooting you on. Thank you for being my best friend. I promise to always think of you when I listen to "Wide Open Spaces."

Love,

Your Best Friend