Dearest Best Friend,

You are an immense blessing in my life. I cannot imagine a world without you, and quite frankly, I don't want to. Your presence in my life and your existence in this world are such amazing things; I wish everybody in the world had a heart like yours.

This is a short list of a few of the reasons why I am immensely thankful for you.

1. Thank you for spending your time with me.

That is the absolute best gift you could give me. I love spending time with you doing anything, whether it's doing something boring like cleaning my room, something exciting like going to a concert, or something relaxing like watching an entire season of Friends in one sitting (psh, we haven't done that multiple times). No matter what I'm doing, it's better if you're there. I get sick of people relatively easily, and I never feel like I can spend enough time with you. That is a new one for me in terms of friendship, so that should tell you how special you are.

2. Thank you for letting me control the radio in the car.

One of my favorite activities in the world is driving around at night in your car, eating those overly colorful frosting sugar cookies, and singing country music at the top of our lungs with the windows down. Thank you for belting out every word of every Taylor Swift song with me. I think that it's an awesome metaphor for our friendship that our favorite car song is Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band. "It's funny how it's the little things in life that mean the most."

3. Thank you for trying new things with me, even if they aren't always your cup of tea.

I know you don't like huge crowds, so going to concerts with me in a full arena means so much to me. Thank you for every beach trip, every city exploring day, and museum visit. Thank you for always being ready to go on an adventure with me, regardless of what it is. Your experiences in life are only as good as the people you share them with.

4. Thank you for always going on dinner dates with me.

I swear the staff of every Italian restaurant in town recognizes our faces. It's almost embarrassing, but at least we can face the embarrassment together over some good pasta.

5. Thank you for introducing me to your family, and for meeting mine.

Thank you for giving me the absolute pleasure of getting to meet the amazing people that helped you grow into the amazing woman that you are. A thank you to your gem of a mom for giving me a pep-talk on FaceTime the day that I moved into college and wouldn't stop crying after my parents left. Thank you to your dad for always taking us out to eat and telling us total dad jokes. Thank you to your step mom for giving me such excited hugs every time she sees me. Thank you to your brother, sister-in-law, nieces and nephews for sitting with me and your mom while we cried our eyes out at your CNA ceremony. They are all wonderful people. Thank you for meeting every one of my family members that lives in the USA or comes to visit. Thank you for always trying to talk to my grandpa when you come over, even if he doesn't wear his hearing aid and doesn't understand your accent. Thank you for being so friendly with my whole family, despite the language barrier you have with some of them. Thank you for obsessing over cute pictures of my niece with me. Thank you for laughing at my dad's horrible jokes and for being friends with my mom. It means the world to me.

6. Thank you for always encouraging me.

We all have our moments when we just don't believe in ourselves and need a reality check. Thank you for always not only reminding me of my goals but reminding me that I can achieve them. You are always the push that I need to feel better.

7. Thank you for being friends with me in high school, even in my bratty phase.

I definitely had that hot minute of a phase in which I was a self-centered barbie and I had no consideration for other people's feelings. You were one of the victims of my nastiness in this horrible time period that I wish I could forget about, but I just wanted to say thank you again for forgiving me and believing in my ability to get out of that phase and be the better person that I am today. I don't think I will ever be able to apologize enough, but I hope that my actions ever since then have proved to you how much I value you.

8. Thank you for always listening to my rants.

Thank you for always listening to my rants, both important and petty. Thank you for spending anywhere from five minutes to an hour of your life listening to me talk. I never stop talking, so it means everything to me that you ALWAYS listen and you NEVER tell me to shut up.

9. Thank you for doing your part in making this long-distance friendship thing work.

Even though we both go to college in the same state, it can feel like we are a world away, especially compared to spending 24/7 together back home. Thank you for answering my phone calls, even if you're in the library. Thank you for the 2 hour Facetimes. But, on the other end of the spectrum, thank you for understanding that college get's busy and I sometimes don't answer calls or texts for a few hours. Especially on deadline days, thank you for being patient with my sporadic responses. That being said, thank you for making sure that I don't have to go a day without hearing from you. Other people reciprocating effort in friendships is huge to me, thank you for always pulling your weight the way that I try to pull mine. Thank you for not letting graduation separate us.

10. Thank you for watching tv with my family.

I will never forget the night of the opening ceremony for the Rio Olympics. My mom, dad you and I ate takeout in front of the tv and watched the entire thing. Just sitting and watching tv with my family is one of the most stress-free, comforting, relaxing activities for me. Thank you for being a part of it.

11. Thank you for surprising me, little things and big things.

From coordinating with my roommate showing up at my dorm after I'd had a bad week, to sending me cards, letters, and other personalized gifts in the mail, you never fail to keep me on my toes. You are too sweet, and it makes me feel so loved when I check the mail and find an encouraging note from you in it.

12. Thank you for truly always being one call away.

Thank you for being there to listen whether I'm having a breakdown or an epiphany. Thank you for calming me down when I call you crying and for celebrating with me when I call you with good news.

13. Thank you for becoming friends with my cousins and my college friends.

It means so much to me that you put in the genuine effort to get to know them. We are all from different corners of the world, and I think it is so beautiful that we can all have so much fun together.

14. Thank you for learning about my culture.

Thank you for learning about my Spanish slang, listening to the songs that I tell you about even if you'll only understand an average of four words, and sitting through my Spanish shows with me with English subtitles. Thank you for trying the Indian food that is on our dinner table and learning all of the appropriate titles for different family members, I know there are a lot and some sound almost the same. Thank you for putting in all of this genuine effort to learn about my cultures. We come from such different cultural and religious backgrounds with such different family structures, thank you for wanting to learn about how my identity works.

15. Thank you for driving me to and from school every day in high school.

Thank you for taking the extra 10 minutes to drive me to school in the mornings and for driving me home after school after our library and Chipotle sessions. It was always such a fun way to start and end the day.

16. Thank you for always pushing me to believe in myself.

Whether it is sending me motivational quotes from Pinterest or giving me one of your epic pep talks, thank you for always helping me believe in myself.

17. Thank you for always taking care of me, whether I'm sick, sad, or both.

Thank you for bringing me soup when I'm sick and watching trashy tv with me in bed. Thank you for sitting with me in bed for a whole week after I got my wisdom teeth out. Thank you for dropping everything and coming to be with me whenever I'm sad if we are both home. Thank you for always taking care of me in every aspect to the absolute best of your ability.

18. Thank you for having extremely high expectations for any boy that even thinks about wanting to date me.

High school and college boys are dumb 95% of the time, thanks for having my back and not letting me date yucky ones.

19. Thank you for keeping your promises and following through with everything that you say.

A lot of people have walked away from me in my life. I have a ton of trust issues, and I am endlessly thankful that I don't have to worry about your loyalty. Thank you for doing what you say and having your actions match your words 100% of the time. You are a rare kind of honest, how lucky am I to have a best friend who exhibits this trait? Thank you for being an always in a world full of sometimes.

20. Thank you in advance for being my bridesmaid, my kids' aunt, and my best friend for life.

I know you aren't going anywhere and, no matter how geographically far apart we may be, we will always be living life together. I can't wait to travel the world together, fall in love and go on double dates together, raise our kids as best friends, and be able to tell our grandkids in the year 2073 that we've been best friends for 60 years. Here's to the best friendship that I will ever have.

My promise to you is that I will always do everything in my power to make sure that you are happy, healthy, taken care of, and fulfilled. I hope that I can be half of the friend to you that you are to me. Thank you for absolutely everything.

I love you always,

Your Best Friend