One of the toughest things in life is growing apart from a friend. What's harder than that is growing apart from your very first best friend. From spending almost every waking second of your life together, to only saying hello in passing, to not even being in contact anymore, it's quite the difficult transition to grow apart from who used to be your other half.

My first best friend and I met when we were two and three-years-old. Her grandparents' backyard was connected with mine. As we got older, we spent almost every day together. She was honestly like the little sister I never had. We fought like any other siblings would, but never once did a fight last longer than a day. We shared tears of joy, tears of sorrow, and too many memories in between to even begin to count. I wish I could say that we are still as close or even acquaintances, but unfortunately, that is not the case.

Once high school hit, we began to venture out to other friend groups. We had different interests that led us in different directions. This is inevitable and happened with a few of my childhood friendships. Even though I only really saw you in passing, I still considered us to be good friends. By my senior year, though, we had pretty much completely gone our separate ways. That was one of the saddest realizations in my life. The one person who made up ninety percent of my childhood was no longer by my side. All of our childhood memories were just that, now, memories.

As I'm getting ready to start my final year of college, I've been thinking a lot about you. The last time we talked was the summer before I left for school. We never kept in contact once I went away to college. That is partially my fault. I got sidetracked by my life here and dropped a lot of people back home. For that, I'm sorry.

I recently keep getting reminders of some of our childhood experiences, especially when I find my way back home. I look out my back patio door and see the evergreens we used to play in, the yard we created obstacle courses in, the pool we used to swim in almost every summer. I think about when we were too little to climb the fence to get to each others' yards, and when we both felt so free when that fence was finally taken down. I reflect on the good times and even the embarrassing moments we shared together. I am constantly reminded of all the ups we experienced, but the downs never cross my train of thought. Nothing but positive images flash in my mind about our friendship. The negatives don't mean anything, and I barely even remember them. They're so minuscule compared to the rest of what made our friendship so great.

I'm not exactly sure why we haven't remained friends other than the fact that we just lost communication, but if you happen to come across this, then just know that I still care. I never stopped caring. If we ever cross paths again, please know that I'll welcome you with open arms. I hope life is treating you well because you deserve nothing but the best. Even though we haven't talked in a few years, you still hold a big place in my heart. After all, you did set the bar pretty high for anyone else that walks into my life. So, thank you for our wonderful friendship. Without you, I wouldn't be who I am today.