This past year has been the best year of my life (I know I say that every year, but it just keeps being true) and you were a huge part of that. I will never stop thanking you for everything, from the memories we shared and the laughs we had, to the tears you dried and hugs you held me in. I owe a lot to you.

When the school year started, we were just really good friends who shared a room. Since then, you have become like a (now missing) appendage on my body. And I wouldn’t change it.

I don’t mind your mess. I would rather swim with you in your clothes (because let’s face it, you could drown in that pile on the floor) than live neatly without you. And I love you for putting up with my ever growing drink cups everywhere. Not just anyone could live with that.

You are always down for anything, from spontaneous dancing in the grocery store to frolicking in flower fields. And that’s why you’re the best.

You don’t judge me for being weird. You just join in on the dinosaur noises. No questions asked.

What’s mine is yours has never been such an applicable phrase in my life before you came into it. Clothes, shoes, hair products, food, movies, meal plans, coffee cups, smiles. What’s mine is yours.

Summer will be unbearable without our late night giggling fests that happened for no reason and bunkbed whispers at three in the morning. Without late night donut runs and walks around campus. Without avoiding homework and eating our weight in ice cream (no regrets).

You are the person I can do nothing but drive around for hours with the windows down and that still be the best day. The person who tells me the truth about my zits. The person who is wearing the shirt I’ve been looking for all day. The person who buys me a cookie just because. The person I trust with what secrets I have somehow managed to keep. The person I break into Broadway duets with. The person I make eye contact with and don’t need words to explain; you just know.

You are the person who will talk to me while I’m in the shower. The person who makes the funniest Snapchat videos. The person who understands retaking a picture because it wasn’t “Instagram worthy.” The person who is half of my Instagram pictures.

You don’t ditch me for boys. You have yet to trade me in for a friend that is less weird. When I yell randomly in public, you join in. That’s all I can ask for in a best friend.

You have never made me feel like a second choice. You have never made me feel like you don’t want to spend time with me. You are always there for me when I need you, whether what I need is someone to zip up my dress or someone to distract me from the world.

The only time you made me cry was when I had to say goodbye. Yet, you have dried so many of my tears and healed so many broken hearts.

I wouldn’t want anyone else sitting next to me on the couch at home, in the pew at church, or the booth at Dairy Queen.

You are the Rachel to my Monica. The Timon to my Pumbaa. The Elphaba to my Glinda.

Summer isn’t goodbye because I’m scrappy and you will never shake me no matter how hard you try. I will visit you more times than you expect.

You were so much more than a roommate. You always will be.