To the Best Friend I Don’t Need to Talk to Every Day,
Once upon a time, we were inseparable. We lived less than ten minutes from each other, saw one another every day in school, and what were weekends if we didn’t spend them stuck by each other’s sides? Once upon a time, we maintained this level of friendship along with a healthy amount of phone calls, text messages, and Face Times. We were best friends who saw each other pretty much every day and spoke to each other daily even when we were not physically together- pretty standard guidelines for friendship.
And then college happened. Of course, this didn’t change anything other than how often we saw each other physically. We were still best friends, and we still are now, but the difference was how often we kept in touch. The standard guidelines for friendship had changed. Although we were no longer by each other’s sides every day, we made up for it by taking maximum advantage of modern day technology’s ability to keep us connected 24/7. The friends we made in college quickly became aware of our close bond, and they came to know each other as well.
But slowly somewhere along the way, we stopped keeping in touch as much. We slowly grew more accustomed to the reality that our college lives created a physical distance between us, a gap that technology could not entirely close no matter how hard we tried. We became more comfortable with our college lives, more caught up in our new friends, classes, and activities. Free time became less prevalent as we became increasingly busy and had less time to spend on our phones. It slowly became more difficult to reach each other because our free times became more difficult to match up. Thus, somewhere along the way, we stopped texting, Face Timing, and talking on the phone every day. I realized that consecutive days would pass without us speaking, and even that would sometimes be followed by a quick conversation before the next streak of days.
When I first realized this, I grew upset. I did not want to lose touch with you just because each of us had developed a new life. You were my friend first, you were there for me first, and we have unexplainable memories together. There had to be a common ground where we could each enjoy our new lives and keep one another in them. I continued to try putting in the effort to talk on the phone every day, and we managed to do so as much as we could, but it was not as often as it was at the beginning of college. The fact is that somewhere along the way, there came an increase in activities in school work, causing a lack of free time that did not allow us to communicate as much as we originally did.
The more this went on and we would come home and see each other, the more I realized it didn’t matter. I don’t need to speak to you on the phone every day because you’re my best friend no matter what, and nothing can get between that—not a physical distance and not a lack of communication. Our friendship doesn’t change whether I see you once a day, once a week, or once every three months. I think that we originally tried to maintain constant interaction because we were afraid of becoming so involved in our college lives that our friendship would be left behind. Clearly, that’s not going to happen, and we both know it. I hate to break it to you, but if you haven’t gotten rid of me by now then you never will. Ha, you’re stuck with me forever.
I'll be the first to admit it: I have grown to hate using my phone. I suck at it. I haven't always been like this, but I have realized how much I hate texting and phone calls. I like to live in the moment, not on the screen. I would rather keep my phone in the other room so I can pay attention to whatever it is I am doing in the moment. I'd rather wait to speak face to face than do so through words on a screen. I have found that since we started talking less, I get more excited about seeing you and giving one another the latest updates on our lives in person.
The bottom line is that we don’t need to talk every single day. I am comfortable with going days, or even weeks, at a time not speaking because I know that we’ll see each other again soon. And when we do, it’ll be like no time has passed since we were last together. When that day comes, I know we’ll catch up on everything important that we’ve missed in each other’s lives, and I'd rather do so face to face. You know I miss you, and I know you miss me too (come on, who wouldn’t), which is why I can’t wait to see you again. Whether we speak on the phone twice a day or twice a year, nothing will ever change our friendship.
You know I could never forget you, ignore you, or replace you. Our friendship is one of a kind.
Love Always,
Your Best Friend
