In life, we tend to find pleasure in the simple things. Perhaps one of the simplest, yet most important things in our lives are the moments we spend reminiscing with good friends. Though moments aren’t often equipped with extravagant settings or fancy food, they always result in an abundance of laughs and even more memories.

Whether these moments are spent in a low-key restaurant that we used to frequent together, at a sporting event supporting our alma mater, or at one of our houses, it never seems to matter the location as long as we are all in one place.

There are few things that top the times we spend with friends after a long time apart. This is especially true for college students returning from school far away from home. When we made the decision to go away for school we never anticipated the effort it would take to remain in contact with the people we considered to be our best friends. It seemed as though time had gotten away from us and we suddenly realized that it had been a month since we had spoken to our closest friends at home. Although this was never intentional, it set in place the harsh reality of growing up and the unfortunate possibility of growing apart. We tend to get so involved in our own schedules that we sometimes forget to stop and check in on the people that we said goodbye to just months ago.

Things get easier when we come home, though. We are no longer distracted by homework, jobs, or extracurricular activities. All of our time is spent relaxing and catching up with old friends. The kind of catching up that goes beyond the incessant, “How are you? How’s school?” questions that your extended family members and acquaintances ask is the kind that we cherish.

We are more interested in dishing out and hearing the smaller details that family members and distant friends aren’t qualified to know. We want to talk about the nights we stayed up too late and slept through classes the next day, or the nights we spent getting sick after one too many tequila shots, or about the nights we met cute guys out at a party that turned into flings and relationships. These are the details we yearn for, not the ones about the great test grade you got (okay we might care a little bit about this).

If going away to school taught us anything, it was that we learn to keep those close that truly matter and learn to not fret those acquaintances we grow apart from.

Building and keeping relationships is a two-way street that requires genuine dedication. If we sit around and wait for someone else to reach out, more often than not, we will find that those friendships cease to exist. To ensure that we don’t lose those people that we consider good and kind, we must demonstrate how much they mean to us by making a concentrated effort to remain constant in their lives.

We want to be the ones they turn to in times of great success, utter defeat, or sudden tragedy. We want to be there to raise a glass for their achievements, give a pep talk when things seem to be going all wrong, or be a shoulder to cry on when they’ve lost someone in their family.

We never want to lose the moments of sitting around a table and reminiscing on good times. We want to picture ourselves doing the same exact thing when we are old and gray, talking about our “glory days.”

So let’s make a promise to ourselves that we won’t let this happen. Better yet, make a promise to each other that you’ll do everything in your power to make sure your friendships last a lifetime.