To my very best friend,

It’s so hard to be apart from you. Three and a half hours is a long distance to be from the person you care about the most. I’ve found that since starting college, it’s difficult to keep relationships the same as they were in the past. Most of this is due to the fact that you really do become your own person in college and learn what makes you happy. But somehow, someway, you always seem present. I don’t know how you do it, but I actually never feel that far away from you. I know that you will still be the completely honest, trustworthy friend that I had back at home, and for this, I am forever grateful.

Distance isn’t easy when dealing with any relationship. Friendship or not, people tend to experience life differently. Most of the time, best friends grow apart and a lot of things change. But, we’ve proven to be better than that. You’ve taken the time out of your hectic schedule to catch up with me almost every day. Even if we don’t answer within seconds or minutes, I know that I can rely on you to still answer my messages, phone calls, or FaceTimes within a reasonable time. We’ve made the effort to visit each other at our new homes and this effort separates us from the whole of friends who fall apart. I enjoy this the most because I value your advice. I value the good judgments you have and the shining personality all of my new friends admire you for. You are so welcoming of my new friends and have even created crazy and cherishable memories with us. These things make me the happy. I’m not just talking regular happy, but that kind of genuinely happy where everything could be going wrong but just knowing you’re surrounded by people who love and support you, you know you can keep moving forward and going strong. This is something I think is important and shows a lot about your character.

I love that you’re happy and succeeding with your life in this new stage of college. You’re always surrounded by genuine friends and seem so happy with how things are going and I think that’s fantastic. When I visit you, there never seems to be a dull moment. They say that you can judge people by the company they keep and you’ve definitely learned what works for you and what doesn’t. I want to give a special thanks to your new friends as well because when I’m not physically present, they make sure that you’re taken care of and continue on the right track to success.

I can’t wait to see what this summer is like with you. It’s been a long time since we’ve really gotten to spend tons of time together. Let’s face it, we’ve definitely both changed and experienced new things, but these changes are only going to contribute to the crazy memories we’re about to make. I can’t wait to be adventurous and try new things, but, more importantly, I can’t wait to go back to our favorite places and do everything we used to because I miss having that routine in my life. I miss my sidekick.

You deserve the multitude of thank you's I’m about to throw your way. Thank you for sticking with me for almost 10 years now. Thank you for listening to every dramatic story I have about my day. Thank you for giving me a shoulder to cry on for each boy who has broken my heart. Thank you for answering them 3 a.m. phone calls — even though I know you were (or would rather be) sleeping. Thank you for not making me feel so bad for making mistakes or being frustrated. Thank you for helping me make smarter decisions. I wish everyone could experience having a bestfriend like you. Thank you for being you.