If you would have asked me years ago how I would ever survive without my childhood and high school best friends, I would have said that I had no idea. At that point, I couldn’t fathom the idea that I would be apart from the people I spent so much of my time with. I was incapable of imagining my life with different people in it. After all, everything that I ever went through, good, bad and ugly, my friends went through as well. It seems like we were (and still are) traveling this rollercoaster called life together. When it came time to move into college for freshman year, emotions were very high. Filled with excitement, I said my final goodbyes to my friends that I spent the last 18 years of my life with, not knowing when the next time I would see or talk to them. The unknown was the scariest part of the whole situation. How would our friendship survive? Who would I run to when I needed to vent about my frustrations? Who would tackle all the problems that I faced with me? I didn’t have answers to any of these questions, but was still determined to go on with my life, alone.

The beginning was filled with nonstop phone calls and texts. Everything that happened needed to be reported back to my other halves. I needed my friends to know everything that I was experiencing, and I wanted to know everything that they were experiencing, as well. As the days went on, the phone calls and the texts became more and more sporadic. There was no daily reporting back on everything that was happening. At first, the change was hard. How could our friendship be fading away after all this time? How could everything that we have been through now mean nothing? These were my original thoughts. As time went on and new friends were made, on both sides, I realized that my initial reactions were the farthest from the truth. My relationships with my best friends were not fading, but instead, were doing the opposite. My friendships were growing. But how could this be? How could this distance and lack of communication make a relationship stronger? This was very puzzling to me initially. There was no reason why I would have to leave home and make new friends to realize how lucky I was to have such positive and all around good friends in my life. But that is exactly what happened.

Distance did indeed make my relationships with my friends stronger. Being away from each other, I realized what it was that drew me towards them. I saw their outstanding qualities that made me run to them and befriend them. I saw why I had so much trust in them, and why I chose to spend all of my time with them. The lack of communication between us showed me how much they meant to me, and how when we weren’t together 24/7, how much I missed them. I realized just what impact they had on my life and how much value they add to me.

Now, I find myself away from my friends, both new and old, this time, across the world. Those same feelings haven’t disappeared, but instead, I realized once again how lucky I am to have such positive people in my life. If you asked me years ago how I was going to survive without my friends, I wouldn’t have an answer. But today, I can tell you that it is completely possible, and the distance will in fact make those relationships stronger.

To my best friends, you know who you are. Thank you for everything. We know that distance can’t tear us apart, so nothing can.