Like most people, I had a decent sized friend group through most of my junior high and early high school years. As senior year came and went, I found myself with a very small friend group of people who I could say I fully trusted. There is always that one friend that seems to be the best of the "best friend group," though.
We had been friends since I had moved into town in fourth grade and we were basically inseparable our last two years of high school. Like most best friends, we sat side by side during graduation and looked at each other with fear and excitement as we moved our tassels. We made endless promises that summer that we'd still talk every day and tell each other all of the most prized secrets we made during college. For the first few months, it was just like high school, expect we saw each other through a FaceTime session or Snapchat instead of down the hallway or in the set across the row.
The conversations were daily and for endless hours, but four hours of distance and busy schedules began to get the best of us. The phone calls shortened, the Snapchats became sporadic; then suddenly, the talking stopped altogether. It wasn't either of our faults and of course, any time a break rolled around where we were actually home at the same time, we spent as much time together as we could catching up on what felt like years of missed time. But now, even that has changed.
It's not like one day we both decided or one of us decided to get these "new best friends," but it happened. In college, you find people who are just trying to grab the nearest floating empty keg or thick chemistry textbook in the sea of college just like you are. Their clothes are the same ones they've slept in for the last two nights and they've stopped going to the gym because a 40-pound book bag seems to do the trick for creating a little bit of the "Sprang Break 2K16 Bod." Sometimes, though, your floating body seems to crash into other ones and you all put your flotation devices together. Bonds begin to be created that have a kind of impact on your life that nothing from high school could ever compare to. These people know nothing about that emo boy you dated in sixth grade or how you got the worst haircut of your life right before eighth grade which gained you the nickname "Poodle" for the next three years. All they know is the person standing in front of them offering a helping hand and an understanding mind.
We are drawn to certain people, whether it be through organizations, athletics or even just being in a classroom together. Friendships start and next thing you know it seems like you've know each other for longer than just a few short months.
You never lose that best friend from home, though. You guys still talk occasionally and spend breaks together talking about what has been going on in your life since the last time you talked. But you no longer feel the need to share every detail about the cute boy you met at a frat party or the one time you stayed up till 4 a.m. with your roommate crying over basically nothing. Neither of you know the people who have seemed to replace you, except for Instagram pictures and the little stories that are told where they are the partner in crime. In the blink of an eye you begin to realize that you don't really know the person sitting in your passenger seat as you fly down a back road that always seems to lead to the same old spot. But that's about the only thing that had seemed to stay the same. That car is no longer filled with stories that few know, that road doesn't hold the promise of security, and that old spot? Well it's a place to visit when you feel a little lost about who you are.
These things and that person will always have a place in your heart because you can't just erase away years of your life where most memories have their name written somewhere in it's script. They will never not be considered your best friend, but instead just one among the many who piece together the life you have lived. We don't really leave behind people who have meant the most to us, but sometimes it's more of a walking in the same direction but just on different paths kind of thing. At times, these paths will cross and maybe even blend into one again. Or maybe they continue to point in different directions leading to new people and places that are meant to carve a new place in your heart. It's hard to tell where life will take us. Sometimes God lets people continue on our journey with us while others finds them self getting off on the next pit stop.
Only time can tell us what will happen, but best friend, I want you to take a few reminders with you if it comes your time to get off on the next pit stop. I will never forget you. Years from now, when I have children, I'll break out the awful pictures of awkward teenage years to show them that we all have to go through it at some point. I'll also be sure to tell them about how I found someone to help me survive a small school and realize that it's not about being cool—it's about being happy and having fun.
I hope that our paths cross over continuously so I can watch and be there when you take some of your largest steps in life and grow into an even more amazing human than you currently are. Lastly, please know that I will never find a best friend to try and replace your spot. They will be one who makes a different impact and can never erase your name from my soul.
OK, so I lied—this one is the last and most important point: I will always love you. Don't forget me either if it comes to that, OK? Love you long time, best friend.
