Everyone has a purpose in your life, whether it’s for a season or a lifetime. They all have a reason to be remembered. The worst part about it all is that you never know when they’re going to leave, if they are going to leave at all, or if the first day you meet them is also your last day getting to know them.

The most important part is what role they played and what they taught you. Everything in life has its teaching and learning moments; everybody learns something from somebody.

For me, numerous people have come into my life teaching me valuable lessons on relationships, friendships, pursuing goals, and dreams. These people have not only taught me lessons on these topics, but they have also shown me the realization of my actions and that everything I do is accounted for. One important lesson I have learned from my parents to remember: Your future is always changing as a result of your actions in the present.

When thinking about that saying, a couple of relationships come to mind, but one stands out among them all: my relationship with my ex-best friend.

We started out being friends in 2^nd grade. She was the friend that on our first sleepover gave me an extreme makeover and put me into a miniskirt. My parents were not happy about that, but they were happy that I had found a friend that I could laugh endlessly with for hours. She was the one person that no matter where we were, we could always have a laugh and enjoy ourselves. She made me smile a little bit more and gave me someone that I could tell anything to. Whenever we had a sleepover, we would stay awake for hours talking about nonsense and be dead tired in the morning because of how late we would stay up. She was amazing.

Eventually, our relationship started to change and our bond became weak, and this was because of what I chose before the friendship - a boyfriend. I know I was that friend. I’m the girl that ditched my best friend to hang out with a dumb boy who I didn't even end up with. I know, I did that. Our hangouts became less and less; things were slowly changing.

Once I had finally broken up with my boyfriend at the time, I tried to rekindle our 7-year friendship, but our connection wasn’t like it used to be. She was a different person than I knew when we were best friends. She had become this completely new person, and I had changed as well, which created a friendship that just wasn’t there anymore. For months, I tried desperately to fix our broken relationship, and I felt like I was the one trying harder than she was, but maybe it was because she was mad at my actions and the fact that I had chosen the boy over her. I had to accept the fact that our friendship would never be the same ever again.

The same girl that would spend hours on the phone with me talking about how she was going to marry Justin Bieber and be one day called Mrs. Bieber was the one person I could no longer call my best friend, she was just a “friend.”

In the end, this is what I learned:

Do not forget or take for granted the people that mean the most to you, because as soon as you forget them. the sooner they're gone.

I took for granted a relationship that meant the world to me, just to watch it crumble before my eyes. She taught me a valuable lesson. I had lost a valued friendship, but in the end, learned that I am right where I am supposed to be. Not only did she teach me to care more about the people closest to me, but she also made me realize that this split was to push me forward into the life I was supposed to live, and she just wasn't in it. At the end of the day, a friendship was broken, but a future was in motion. For this, I am content.