A Thank You Letter To My Best Friend

There is a definitive moment in a person’s life where they become acutely aware of the fact that they found their soul mate. I’m not talking about the person they’ll spend the rest of their days waking up to each morning. I’m talking about the awkward person you didn’t like that forced themselves on you in Biology 101 freshman year of college that changed your life forever. So, to that awkward person, my best friend:

Thank you for being you and for letting me be me. Thank you for letting me feel so much like myself when I’m with you. Thank you for not making me wear any masks or put on any fronts. Thank you sharing in my happiest moments, and for genuinely feeling the same; for listening to my saddest stories and radiating compassion and empathy from wherever you are. Thank you for being the only person I ever want to confide in.

Thank you for being the most beautiful person, inside and out. Thank you for making the world a better place, just by being in it. Thank you for making colors a little brighter, sunshine a little warmer, and hugs a little better. Thank you for loving more fiercely than anyone I know. Thank you for defining selfless, always putting others before yourself; you are going to change the world just as much as you have changed mine.

Thank you for the laughs, for the cries, and for everything in between. Thank you for being my rock, my anchor; for keeping me grounded when I feel like I might otherwise blow away. Thank you for all of the things you do, big and small. Thank you for knowing my favorite ice cream flavor and what song I would die for. Thank you for always knowing what to say and for being one of life’s best teachers. Thank you for making fun of me when I deserve it, and for loving me when I don’t. Thank you for staying constant in a world full of change, and for keeping some normalcy in a world full of chaos.

Thank you for laughing as hard as I did at that video in biology lab freshman year. Thank you for making sure I didn’t get away from you four years ago. Thank you for setting the bar so high and making it impossible to find another friend as good as you. Thank you for making the four short years we have been friends feel like forever and for giving me enough memories to last a lifetime, but not ending there. Thank you for making me hurt when I miss you, but for taking the hurt away when I see you. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for the absolute privilege and honor of being able to call you my best friend; thank you for being my person. Thank you for giving me these reasons, and a million more, to be thankful for.

Forever and Always,

Your Best Friend