Thank you,

You've seen me at my worst. You've seen me at my best. You were there through Life is Good t-shirts and bad haircuts, pinkish greenish hair, bad eyeshadow, photoshoots in the backyard with trees, picnic, ice skating, and a million other things. And for some reason, you've stayed.

Thank you for understanding that while physically I might not be there, I'll always be just a phone call or a text away- even at 2 AM on a school night because I'll probably be up doing homework anyway. You've called me in the middle of the night crying about how you couldn't handle two jobs plus class, and how you just wanted to come over and have my mom's food again and we cried. It's cool. Me too.

Thank you for understanding how packed my life is. I know you're students yourselves, and some of you even work, and you get what it's like to only have two days over January break where you can make it back home to see people you haven't seen since the summer. I know you get it because we've been in the same boat sometimes, three projects due the next day, a call from work asking you to come in because someone else called out and it's insanely busy, and your sister needing help with an essay. Sometimes, I've taken a two-hour trek to see you for five minutes because we both had to go somewhere else, and it's been okay. We survived.

Thank you for understanding how ridiculously far in advance I need to plan things. You know I work and go to school full time. This new job means I have to schedule my availability two weeks in advance. I know it's difficult to grab everyone's schedule that far ahead, but making a tentative plan isn't that difficult, and it means a lot when you're able to tell me that we can see each other either this day or that day.

Thank you for understanding how hard it is for me to keep in touch with people. Rarely do I remember to initiate a conversation, but I'll tag you in stuff on Instagram or like your posts on Facebook. Thanks for snapchatting me mundane parts of your life, or that really cool thing you made. That's something called digital intimacy, and it's the only way of staying close that I have time for right now. Thank you for realizing that living away from home is hard, especially when everyone else goes home over the summer and how physically hard getting home can be when I still can't drive.

Thank you for understanding that I'm the type of friend that can go months without talking to you, but once we see each other, nothing has changed. Just because we go to school in different states, or live in different areas doesn't mean I suddenly don't like you and don't want to see you anymore. It just means we have to work a little harder to see each other.

To the friends who left- it's okay. I get that you have different needs from your friends that I cannot fulfill, and you know what? That's fine, and I wish you the best.

Finally, to the ones who stayed, I appreciate you more than words can describe.