Dear Hometown Best Friend,

This is one of the hardest things I've ever had to write. Sure, writing poems is tough, and letters to my parents are always a handful, but it's different writing to you. You see, you're my best friend. And here I am, college student, not able to be around you as I finish this year. It is honestly one of the worst things that could have happened to me. Not that going off to college is bad, but that I'm not surrounded by our day-to-day nonsense like I used to be.

I thought I knew who I wanted to surround my life with. The people, the ideas, the surroundings—but here I am—wrong. I thought I knew who my best friend was, I thought that for over six years. And then, all of a sudden, my junior year of high school, I met you. You were just a little freshman, and you had been picked by the seniors to be my "crew little." And that was the start of a budding friendship.

Over the past three years, we have shared numerous sour gummy worms, many dollar store trips, a few so-called "hikes" in the woods (which consisted of you looking for frogs or me lost the entire time), lots of bus rides to and from Saratoga and to the boathouse, many mornings in the library finishing homework due that day and so on. The list goes on, and I don't have enough words to say them all, but I know I've cherished every single moment we've spent together.

Monday is your birthday (Feb. 22), and while I will not be spending the day with you, know that I still care about you with every inch of my being, and you will always be the best friend I could ever have. Leaving you to go to Rochester was the hardest thing I ever did, besides leaving my dog and my family, obviously, but you definitely were in the top five.

I remember in the fall, you came up a day early to a regatta just to see me race, and nothing has made me happier than that surprise after assuming I wouldn't see you until winter break. Seeing you before I left for CA when I came home for winter break was probably the greatest thing, probably due to the fact that we were literally attached by the hip the entire time. Surprising you at winter training on my last few days at home before second semester and seeing your face made me beyond happy to be home.

Molls, you're my best friend. And it's so hard being this far away from you, but I will always, 100 percent, be here every step of the way if you need me. As my crew little, I had no choice but to be there for you. But as a crew alum, I can still say full-heartedly that I would leave class to answer a call from you if you really needed me.

You're my person, dude. And I don't think I'll be able to say that about anyone else.

Love,

The Only One Who Understands Your Obsession with Gummy Worms