At the start of my freshman year of high school, I met two people who ultimately became my best friends. We grew apart after freshman year ended as we became involved in different organizations and ran with different friend groups. However, I never stopped appreciating the friendship we shared. Although we no longer spoke every day, I always took comfort in knowing I had people protecting me from afar, and I took pride in doing the same for them. The friends whom you don’t speak to every day, but you can catch up with like you haven’t missed a beat and the friends who constantly accept you, no matter where you wander are the true treasures of all blessings.

To my forever friends,

I remember the over-eager but anxious high school freshman I was four years ago. High school was finally beginning- the period of my life I was anticipated for months. It was finally the first day and unfamiliar faces surrounded me. I’m glad yours were the ones that decided to take the seat beside me. Even in the beginning stages of our friendship, you accepted my excitable tendencies and from that point forward I knew our friendship would be one I would treasure.

Freshman year was a sacred period of our lives. We were paradoxes of awkward and unsure, all while being confident and full of life. Everything was new. Our classes were new, our classmates were new, the opportunities that awaited us were new and we conquered all of them together. There were some days when I swear we knew each other better than we each knew ourselves. We shared endless inside jokes, secrets and laughs and even when the year ended, our friendship did not.

When sophomore year came, our lives began to change. Our classes were different, our involvements were different and our personalities were different, resulting in new friendships and neglect to the one we shared. Our conversations went from every day to every week to every month to only occasionally. We went from knowing every detail of each other's’ lives to catching up in the hallway during lunch. We began to grow apart but I don’t believe our friendship became weaker; it instead just became from a distance.

You two were the only friends I had that I could go months without speaking to and then catch up with and feel as if I had talked to you every day. We could laugh about the same jokes we laughed at during freshman year on our last day of high school and recreate pictures that were taken what seemed like ages ago. We could reminisce on our brace-faced days, our dorky crushes and even unrealistic dilemmas that seemed so foolish four years later. Although we grew apart as high school ran its course, you two were the two friends I knew I could count on in good times and bad times, even if we hadn’t spoken in months. I always knew that you were watching from the distance, silently guiding me through the decisions I made. Every time I made a decision, you two crossed my mind. I wondered what you would say or if you would approve. After all, I always knew you had my best interest at heart. It never mattered how much we changed as people, there was a piece of each of us that always remained the same, and our friendship was based off of that cherished piece.

Even though we didn’t remain in constant contact, and even though we don’t talk everyday or know the most specific details of each other’s lives, four years later I still consider you two to be two of the truest friends I have ever had. Our friendship was genuine and unique and it’s a friendship that I know will live on through memories and occasional Facebook messages about the good ol’ days. Thank you for always being there for me, even if you didn’t know you were. No distance is too far and no time is too long for true friends, and thank you for being mine.

With love,