Here’s to the girl that can always make me smile.

Here’s to the girl that makes me laugh so hard that I cry.

Here’s to the girl that I could never imagine life without.

Here’s to the girl that has seen the laughter and tears.

Here’s to the girl that dances around the kitchen in her PJs with me

Here’s to the girl that I thought would never become my best friend.

10 years ago my parents sent me off to summer camp for two weeks. I was nervous, awkward, and praying that I would make at least one friend. I sat for the two-hour bus ride through the winding back roads of Middle of Nowhere, West Virginia. When we finally arrived I was so nervous that I couldn’t even tell them my name. I found my cabin and started settling in. I didn’t speak to anyone, I just made my bed and sat there. All of a sudden this bubbly, sporty girl started talking. She captivated me. This was her second summer here and she seemed to know everything. But there was something about her that put me off. I was so girly and not athletic and she was the complete opposite. (I’m pretty sure she wore basketball shorts everyday and didn’t own ANY soffee’s.) We got along decently well until the middle of the second week. That’s when all hell broke loose. She tried to kill one of the newts that lived in our lake and I was not having it. It got to the point that 3 summers later they had to separate us into different cabins because we couldn’t be near each other.

At some point in our summer in different cabins we put our differences aside and became best friends. From that summer on we became inseparable. Her friendship came at the perfect time. Our fourth summer was the last summer before my dad passed away. She made me forget all my worries for those two weeks I spent with her. She made me laugh harder than I had in months and knew that even when I didn’t want to talk I needed her near me. She became my rock. When my dad passed away she was the only person I wanted to talk to. After that whenever I needed someone to talk to I could always depend on her. She was there for the first time I thought I was in love and the first time I experienced a broken heart, for the awkward middle school years, for the bad hair cuts, and for the moments I thought I had no one to turn to.

My best friend will be the one cheering me on when I graduate college. The one I call when I fight with my mom. The one standing next to me on my wedding day. The one who my children will call Aunt. The one who will be sitting next to me when I’m old and senile. My best friend will forever be the one who I thought would never be my best friend.