To my long-distance best friends:
Â
(Yes, all of you. You know who you are.)
Â
Let me start off by stating the obvious: these past three years have been really hard without you—well, not completely without you, but certainly with much less of you than I’m used to seeing. After all, we’ve spent practically our whole lives together. We grew up in the same small town. We laughed, cried, and screamed our way through elementary, middle, and high school. We spoke almost every day, even if it was just a quick instant message or a “Hey, how are you?” when we passed each other in the school halls. However, going off to college changed a lot of that. Now, even though most of you aren’t more than a hundred miles away, we don’t see each other nearly as often as we used to, and school, work, and the pressures of everyday life make it hard for us to regularly keep in touch. Three years ago, I never could have imagined how emotionally-taxing it would be to go to school without you all, but honestly, it’s been very difficult. College has made me realize just how much I relied on you when we were younger. In fact, it’s made realize that I kind of took your friendship for granted. You had always been there for me, been this constant presence in my life, and I guess I sort of just assumed that you’d always be there. Obviously, that’s not the way things ended up working out.
So in light of that, I just want to say two things: first of all, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I haven’t kept up with you the way I should have. I’m sorry that I haven’t texted and called you more often, or sent you letters in the mail. I’m sorry that I haven’t told you when I’m in town and asked if you wanted to hang out. I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to be there for you. I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to comfort you or celebrate your successes face to face. Please don’t misinterpret my silence as a sign that I no longer want to be friends because just the opposite is true. In reality, I want to be your friend now more than ever before.
Secondly, thank you. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me over the years. Thank you for supporting me, for giving me handmade birthday cards, for texting me out of the blue, for driving me places that I needed to be. Thank you for taking me on crazy adventures downtown, for singing with me in the car, for playing sardines with me in the park, for having inside jokes that only we understand. Thank you so much for being my friends, each and every one of you. I don’t think I tell you enough how much you all mean to me and how grateful I am to have you in my life. Yeah, being away from you is rough, but it’s also made me that much more aware of how lucky I am to have amazing friends like you. I miss you all a lot and hope we get to see each other soon.
Lots of love,
Â
Emily