To my best friend of 20 years,

Wow, 20 years sure seems like a long time. I’m sure time and time again I have driven you nuts and made you want to lose your mind. Spending almost everyday with me until I left for college could not have been easy. Thank you for raising me right and leading me down all the right paths to make me who I am today. I know for a fact these 20 years haven’t been always so easy because let's face it, I’m simply not an easy best friend to have. I’m sure the phone calls you’ve received at 2 a.m. of me having another dramatic breakdown haven’t been easy to deal with. I’m sure the messes I’ve made in my life that you had to clean up weren’t easy to deal with. I’m sure the tears I’ve cried, fits I’ve thrown, and moods I’ve been in haven’t been easy to deal with. Regardless you remained my best friend.

My absolute go to–the only person who knows me better than I know myself. The only person I could run to when all else failed. There have been times in our 20 year friendship I’ve taken you for granted and not realized how important you are. You’ve spent countless time supporting everything I do; you’ve spent countless amounts of money supporting the obsessions I have (shopping and Justin Bieber). You are the only person I want taking care of me when I’m sick and the person I constantly miss. Thank you best friend for dealing with my "I have nothing to wear" breakdowns, thank you for dealing with my first broken heart, and thank you for always being right when you tell me not to do something and I do it anyway, lessons learned.

You were the best play date growing up, and still to this day my favorite person to cuddle with. You’re the best movie and ice cream date after a long week. You’re the best shopping companion because you’ll tell me when a dress makes me look ridiculous. You were the best chauffer when I couldn’t take riding the bus anymore, and you were the best tutor when you’d speed-read and summarize my assigned novels for me. You were my number one fan in the game I loved most, and my number one supporter when I lost the ability to play the game I love most.

I can always count on you to ask me one hundred questions to get to the bottom of any story, and I can always count on you to tell me I’m crazy and my decision making skills are poor. I can always count on you to bring me food to my bed when I’m sick, and massage the tensions out of my neck. You’ve given me so much in the past 20 years, like your ability to multi-task and not take no as an answer. You’ve given me plenty of lectures and fair shares of "I told you so’s". You’ve given me laughter, lessons, and a few tears. You’ve given me immense amounts of love and the best friendship a girl could ask for.

I love you Mom, thanks for being my best friend for 20 years.