I’m graduating, and that’s okay.You have one more year left of school, and that’s okay. We’re at different points in our lives, and that’s okay.

What is not going to feel okay is the sorrow I will have as I leave you behind.

My dear friends, you have been my constant source of joy as I have struggled through the past four years of this system we call education. As I have struggled through finding myself and finding my future. As I have just, plainly and simply, struggled. In you I found a source of strength to remind me that everything is relative and that “this too, shall pass.” In you I found myself smiling as you gave me hope for better days and times of laughter to look forward to after a long week of everything else. In you I found the beautiful moments that make everything else worth it. In you I found a family I didn’t know I needed but couldn’t live without.

And now I’m forced to leave that all behind.

I know going to college doesn’t mean I’m leaving our friendship behind, but, as of now, it’s impossible for me to fathom a daily life in which I don’t see you. In which we don’t make jokes or tease each other or talk about the silliest of things. In which you’re not a simple ten minute drive away.

So as I start my new chapter at a university and you begin to end yours that is high school, I want you to think and forget. Think of the times that we laughed until we cried and cried until we laughed. Of the times we walked through the halls side by side. Of the times we spent long hours at school and how we only survived it because we were there together. Of the times were we were simply happy because we were by each other’s side, doing dumb things like scrolling endlessly through social media and how it actually felt anything but “dumb” because it meant I was with you and you were with me.

But most importantly, think of me, because, without a doubt, I’ll be thinking of you.

And now I want you to forget. Forget about the times you’ll have without me. Forget about how I’m 100 miles away. Forget about the pressures of high school and the constant need to succeed. Forget about what colleges look for and how it feels you must meet a certain kind of criteria for them to accept you, because I know you’re perfect and any college is crazy not to think so too, and you don’t want to be at a crazy college anyways. And, occasionally, forget about schoolwork and AP exams and SATS and ACTS and all the other items that try to test your immeasurable worth, and instead find the friends that will make you laugh and feel carefree the way you did for me. You deserve it.

But most importantly, forget the distance.
Because I’ll always be only one phone call away.

And heck, 100 miles isn’t that long of a drive anyways.

Love always,

Katrina