I’ve had a lot of best friends throughout my 19 years of life. I’ve had kindergarten best friends. I’ve had Girl Scout best friends, soccer best friends, and ballet best friends. I’ve had middle school best friends. I’ve had tennis best friends. I’ve had marching band best friends. I’ve had high school best friends. I’ve had guy best friends. I’ve had best friends that started off sweet and ended up mean. I’ve had best friends that faded out of my life only to come back into it. I’ve had many, MANY best friends.

None of them even come close to you. We haven’t known each other for years and years, but we’re already the best of friends. You’re such an important person in my life, and I’ve got a couple of things I want to thank you for.

Thank you for always being kind.

You’re the sweetest human being I know, and I love that about you. Thank you for being patient when I’m being ridiculously annoying. Thank you for making me feel special and beautiful. Thank you for giving me genuine compliments that aren’t just about my looks, but about my talents, accomplishments, and spiritual gifts. Thank you for checking up on me when you know I’m stressed or sad. Thank you for always making me smile.

Thank you for putting up with my quirks.

I know, I’m a weirdo. Thank you for not (always) laughing at me when I sort through all my potato chips and only eat the unblemished ones. Thank you for not making fun of me when my Northern way of pronouncing things makes me say things like “ah-range” instead of “orange” and “fah-rest” instead of “forest." Thank you for being okay with my obsessive fear of getting sick. Thank you for not ending our friendship over all the random sounds and faces that I make at you.

Thank you for always being generous.

Thank you for letting me borrow your stuff. Thank you for letting me vent to you instead of viewing it as a waste of your time. Thank you for giving me the bigger half of the cookie when we’re sharing. Thank you for spending your hard-earned money on buying me thoughtful presents. Thank you for giving me rides when I don’t have one. Thank you for sharing your awesomeness with me and not keeping it to yourself.

Thank you for being hilarious.

Thank you for having taken it upon yourself to learn my exact sense of humor. Thank you for cracking inside jokes to make me smile. Thank you for watching SNL sketches with me and laughing until our sides hurt. Thank you for being totally bizarre and crazy sometimes. Thank you for sending me funny pictures and tagging me in funny Facebook posts that encompass our weird shared humor. Thank you for never failing to make me laugh.

Most of all, thank you for giving our friendship your all.

It would be easy for you to be detached. It would be easy for you to not give 100 percent. But you do, you always do. Thank you for striving to maintain good communication. Thank you for doing your part to work out problems and arguments when we have them. Thank you for always showing me you care. Thank you for never giving up, even if you’re frustrated with me. Thank you for believing in our friendship as much as you do.

You’re the greatest friend a girl could ask for. I love talking to you, hanging out with you, and being weird together. Thank you for being someone that I can be myself around. Thank you for your amazing friendship. I hope we always stay friends. Scratch that; I know we will.