Some call it a blessing, some call it a curse -- it is the group chat. Between all of your college friends, your friends at home, and your friends from whatever other shenanigans you find yourself involved in, you are bound to find yourself in at least one group chat -- and it is correctly referred to as ‘the Group Chat’ by you and the other members. While the group chat can leave many with migraines and a substantially low phone battery life, the death of a group chat can almost feel like the death of a loved one. So to all of the group chats I have ever been a part of, and most importantly, to those that have stayed alive until today, I wrote you all a message that was too long to send over text:

To the person who seems to never talk in the chat, thank you for listening. I am not entirely sure of why you are a part of the group chat if you do not like to speak in it, but the fact that you could leave at any moment while I am venting and you choose not to means a lot to me.

Thank you for never kicking me out during one of my crazy Dubsmash nights. I really don’t know what got into me, but thank you for the pity laughs. It makes me feel funnier than I really am.

I am sorry for all of the double texts… but not really. If they ever get to you too much, just let me know. I probably won’t stop, but I will be more aware.

Thank you for picking out my Instagram filters for me. To some, it may seem like it is not a big deal, but you understand the difference between Valencia and Lo-Fi better than they do, so your opinion matters more to me.

I am sorry for putting the conversation on Do Not Disturb. Sometimes, though, you need to understand that I can’t have my phone blowing up. I hope you can forgive me, because we all do it.

Thank you for pretending to be as amused by the cat Vine as I was. I still think it is one of the funniest things on the Internet, even though the most I got as a response was a few ‘lols' here and there.

I am very impressed and kind of disgusted by how well we can analyze a screenshot of a text message together. I never realized how much shade could be thrown in a conversation until a group of six teenage girls pointed it out to me. And to those out there who have ever sent a rude text to me: just know my whole group chat knows about it.

The struggle of getting us all together physically for a picture is the bane of my existence. Our poor photoshopping skills provide a lot of amusement for my Instagram followers, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that I momentarily hate whoever had a family thing that night.

Thank you for all of the prompting for the texts I did not know how to phrase well. I think I would have screwed up a lot more relationships if it was not for your editing job.

If it wasn’t for you, I probably would be out of the loop on a lot of drama in the world. I also wouldn’t have a lot of Saturday night plans if it wasn’t for you telling me where the parties were.

I will never understand why I am always busy when the intense discussions break out. Next time, I would like a warning. Also, I ask that no one texts the group while I am trying to catch up, because nothing is more annoying than my phone refreshing while trying to scroll to find the beginning of the conversation.

You are the reason why my grades are not what they should be. It’s OK though, because after our conversation about the perks of becoming a stripper, I have found that my grades are not as important as I originally thought.

Based on how crazy our lives seem through the texts, we deserve a reality television show. But I know that our lives actually are not that interesting in real life, so that show would not last more than a season.

Most importantly, however, thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives. No matter how obnoxious and emotional I get, you never look at me as any less of a person, and I cannot help but realize how lucky I am to have you in my life. You have been there for me in a matter of seconds with kind and uplifting words at the times I have needed it the most. I didn’t think I could hold this much love in my

heart for a group of people until you came along, and for that, I truly believe there is no bond quite like that of the members of ‘the Group Chat.'