Everyone dreams of having a friend throughout their whole entire life -- one that you grow up with and experience monumental times with. As wonderful as this sounds, it is extremely difficult to find a person that you get along so well with and continue to do so for years on end. But what exactly makes a "best friend"? Is it their personality? Their humor? Is it how much you relate to them? For some it may not be any of these things but for others it may be all of the above and more. Each friendship has it's own story -- mine however is more of a dream come true.

My best friend and I met when we were both in third grade. We were shy, awkward 8 year olds with our biggest worry being if our stuffed animals missed us too much when we weren't home. The way we met was actually in a self defense class. My mom and I joined the class together and her aunt was the instructor. We clicked instantly and were constantly giggling and smiling. We would play with our Build-A-Bear's and Littlest Pet Shop toys for hours on end and taking them with us wherever we went.

Growing up, she and I went to different middle schools but that never stopped us from keeping in contact. As high school approached though, we were elated that we would finally be able to attend school together. To make things even better, our homerooms were right next to each other so we were always together, even when we weren't necessarily supposed to be. High school was full of good, bad and ugly moments for the both of us, but no matter what, we would be there for each other. We would laugh with each other, cry to each other and more often than not, annoy each other with our ridiculous rants. Even so, nothing was ever enough to make us fight or argue.The two of us could have fun doing just about anything. We could listen to Disney music for hours on end singing our little hearts out or just spend a night in pigging out and watching scary movies on Netflix. We didn't need anything special to keep us happy, just being together was enough.

We both decided that we would attend the same college about an hour and a half away. She and I roomed together to make our transition easier and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. We went through breakdowns and breakups, and both would have been so much worse if we didn't have each other to help us through them. I am so beyond thankful that I had my best friend with me during the biggest change of my whole life, although I was already pretty used to her living with me from how often she would be over my house.

When I see people claim to be "best friends," yet fight and constantly say they hate each other all the time, I like to stop and think just how lucky I am. We have been friends for over half of our lives and not once have we had an incident like that. I really can't thank her enough for all of the incredible, caring things that she has done for me and I know she will continue to do so forever and always just like how I would do the same for her. No boy, no rumor, no anything will come between us. Thank you for being you and bringing out the best of me. I love you.