To The Friends Who Have Never Judged Us — Thank You

You’ve seen us through it all — our joy, our sadness, and our regret — and never left our side. You’ve heard all our deepest, darkest secrets and refused to walk away. You’re the friends who’ve never judged us — no matter how much you’ve wanted to — and we adore you for your empathy and unconditional love.

Thank you for sticking with us through our most embarrassing moments. You’ve seen us through years of cringeworthy fashion choices and still loved us for our questionable tastes. You’ve stood with us after witnessing missteps with crushes who’d never love us back, watching us imbibe drinks that were a little too strong and reading the ridiculous social media posts we’d later come to regret. You’re so close to us that you’ve seen years’ worth of awkward, uncomfortable moments and never once thought about leaving our side.

Thank you for patiently listening to us as we share both our pettiest complaints and our biggest mistakes. You’ve heard years’ worth of woes, from the school programs that slowly robbed us of our sanity to the regrettable texts we sent our exes to the tears over the ones who broke our hearts — and you never once told us that the problems we faced were unworthy of your time. You’ve wanted to shake us, to tell us to stop venting about people and problems that won’t matter in a few years, but you’ve continued to validate us. You’ve constantly shown us that our struggles truly matter to you, no matter how trivial they may seem.

Thank you for loving us through the decisions we made before we started healing. You’ve seen us act in ways that harm ourselves and others and still stay because you believe we can fight our demons. You’ve heard us cry and yell and panic and break down when life felt like it was no longer within our grasp, and you’ve guided us through the pain, promising that our lives can improve. You’ve witnessed the fights we’ve picked and the confrontations we’ve instigated and still choose to love us through our worst moments. You’ve always seen who we truly are and believe we’re worthy of comfort and forgiveness — and in return, we believe the same of you.

To the friends who have never judged us, thank you for seeing us through our biggest mistakes and most uncomfortable moments. You’re the friends we’ll cherish for a lifetime because you love us through everything we face — and we’ll always love you back.