As I write this article, I’m sitting in my childhood bedroom. The walls are plastered with pastel pink wallpapers covered in bows, along with posters of teeny-bopper sensations. The walls are filled with stupid old notes that were passed in class in middle school, along with goofy pictures of class trips, proms and everything in between. This room is my life, and everything, every moment, everyone on this wall has made me who I am today.
The ones who fill these pictures range from my family to old boyfriends to my best friend and everyone else you can imagine. Each and every one of them mean the world to me, even if we have had a falling out in the past, because without them, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. My friends were there from the get-go.
On the first day of preschool, I met a girl who soon became my forever best friend. Every morning of preschool, I would sit there crying until she got there. With her, I was happy, and life was good (even though we know life was pretty good for a 4-year-old, no matter what). As the years rolled along, we were placed in different classes, but we were still the best of friends. And as we grew up, our lives shifted. Through middle school and high school, we had different teachers and classes, but regardless, I have always considered her my best friend. I can go to her for anything, no matter how long we have been apart. We could go weeks without seeing each other but still can pick up right where we left off, as close as could be, as if we had never been apart. A friendship like this is unlike any other. She has always been there for me and has been my very best friend for over 16 years now, and I know she will be for many more.
She is just one of the many who have been there for me every step of the way. She is just one of my many genuine bests friend I’ve had while growing up.
I’ve lived in the same town my whole life, along with so many of the other kids I went to school with. We all knew everyone along with their families. Each year, the same 150 kids traveled up the stairs into the next grade. The same kids, year after year, were there for you and were your friends.
And then, when high school rolls around, you find your real people. The kids you’ve been growing up with become your people, become your best friends. My high school is composed of two towns, so I grew up with one group of kids in one town, but then met incredible friends in my freshmen year. You’ve grown in and out of friendships and it’ll happen again soon, but your high school friends have been in your life since the day you stepped into that school district. They know what’s been going on in your life. They’re there for the drama, for the college applications and the fear of your future. We’ve been forced to choose our future at the age of 17 and 18, and your friends were right there with you easing the stress through boatloads of laughter.
Don’t get me wrong. The friends I’ve made in college are incredible, some of the most caring, funny and best friends I could have ever asked for, but I’ve only had them in my life for two years now. And yes, they’ve seen me at my best and my worst, but they don’t fully know my past, my family, my childhood. They know my quirks, but don’t understand why. But also, they don’t question why. They love me for who I am, and I’m forever grateful. But I can’t complain to them about the boy who I loved, because they only know stories; they don’t know him. I can’t reminisce about our high school trip to Europe because they’ve heard a million times about how we had a baguette fight in France and they’ve seen the pictures over and over. The memories I make with them are new and exciting, but our pasts are so different. And again, I’m thankful to have met people who come from different states, backgrounds and experiences, and we get along wonderfully. I love them unconditionally. I know I can trust them with anything and everything, and I know they will be there for me no matter what.
It’s just that a girl I met in eighth grade became my go-to number one best friend by freshmen year of high school. She is my everything. She is the most genuine, caring and kindhearted person ever. She was there for me every step of the way in high school, and to this day, as I finish up my sophomore year of college, she is the one I text no matter what. When I need to cry, I call her; when I need to vent or complain, I text her; and then also when things go right and I need to boast, I tell her. She is always there for me no matter what, and has been for the past six years. We grew up in the same area, went to school with the same kids, tackled high school together and went our separate ways in college. Regardless, she’s the first one I text and the first one I want to see when we’re both back home. She’s a home friend I could never ever lose.
It’s just something about those kids I went to middle school and high school with; they grew up alongside me. We faced the awkward years together (even though I’ll probably always be stuck in the awkward phase). They were there for the first crush, the first heartbreak, the second crush and the second heartbreak and so on. My home friends know my past and are willing to be in my future. From birthday parties to lemonade stands, and from proms to the summer vacations, they’re some of my favorites, and I am forever grateful that they’ve been able to put up with me, whether it’s for the last 19, 14, 10 or 6 years. My home friends understand me and will be there no matter what. Even when we’re old and gray, we have our whole lives to look back on and reminisce, since we went through it all together.
