This summer was the very last summer I will return back to my quiet, little hometown in North Texas and I am trying really hard to accept that. Along with this fact, I am attempting to say goodbye to the people that I no longer need in my life. Now that I have finished my first year of college I have realized that many of my relationships have changed. To my friends from high school that are still there for me, I thank you and cherish the memories we’ve created and the laughs we’ve shared. Y’all probably already know this because I never left our group messages and still constantly bug you guys. However, I have realized not everyone I shared those beautiful and crazy times with in high school are meant to still be important in my life and at some point, I need to stop dragging those relationships on.

We’ve all grown up and changed in many different ways and that’s okay. It was through a lot of heartbreak this summer that I finally understood that not everyone in your life will be there forever. It’s okay for some people to be temporary. There are people you let in your life that grow you, change you and allow you to become who you are meant to be. While you may be growing as a person you might also be growing apart from those friendships, and that is okay. All relationships evolve and while it may suck to cut ties, it might just be the healthiest choice you have.

For me, some of the people I had to cut ties with in my home town really hurt. They had been my first kiss and even the person I ran to with my biggest struggles. However, now they can’t be there for me and they don’t understand the person college has made me. I can’t help them because in the year we’ve been apart they have grown in a way I don’t understand. I miss the way things used to be, however, it will never be that way again, and that is something I have begun to be okay with.

I am okay with knowing that we’ve grown apart, I’m okay with the new friends that now take my place, and I hope that they can feel the same way for me. I have learned that the temporality of friendship is actually the greatest way for people to learn. I mean, how else would Taylor Swift have become famous if it weren’t for all those guys who walked out of her life. It’s okay and it’s acceptable. It’s just another part of growing up and writing a new chapter in the book that we call life. In a way, it’s just as common as the circle of life.

With that being said I’ve learned that grudges are for children and for people who are stuck in the past. I have chosen to not let negative part of my relationships dictate my happiness. I have fought to be self-sufficient and to focus on the present while looking forward to the goodness the future can bring. I have made it my goal to not allow the negativity I experienced growing up or the hate some people in my life showed me to affect me, but instead I have used those things to learn and teach others.

So, thank you for the memories Wichita Falls and thank you for letting me learn just one more thing from the people of this town before I leave again. I am so grateful for the friends I met there that are still on my recent contact list. I also am so very thankful for the people who helped me become who I am although we are no longer close. I thank you for teaching me the value of friendship and the ability to grow up. I can only hope that those who continue to come in and out of my life bless me the way that the people of this town have.