An Open Letter to My Best Friend.

Dear Best Friend.
Thank you. The first day we truly met was move in day of freshman year, when you offered to help me move my bed because “they’re a little tricky”. I could have cried I was so happy in that moment, because somehow I knew you’d always be there to help and support me, which I’m so thankful to say has been the case.

Thank you for being part of my Dream Team, moving furniture with me after my mental breakdown about our third roommate having half the room. And when I was generally my great-grandmother’s kindred spirit, meaning I cannot stand when furniture is in one place too long.

Thank you for getting me into a club I would have been to scared to join on my own. I cannot express how thankful I am for the opportunities the club has given me, meaning what you have given me. Academically, socially and professionally, Reach Out has changed my life and impacted my worldview, and that’s all because of you.

Thank you for saving my life. When I got appendicitis, you convinced me to go to the health center and you put up with the side effects of my medications when I came back a week later, even when it meant spending too long in the bathroom and severe abdominal pain.

Thank you for making me meet new people, aka our late night guest. That experience was weird as hell, and no one else quite understands what that period meant to me. That experience also allowed me to be more confident in myself, no longer craving male approval.

Thank you for letting me experience first love again. Seeing you and your SO get together reminded me how special you are and that you deserve the world, and it added a whole other dimension to our relationship and I could finally have “lady conversations” with my friends like an adult and someone to go to that one building event with…. 😉

Thank you for being my safety valve. Sophomore year was rough and I remember one night in the study lounge you were able to talk me off the edge, and I’m not sure you knew my toes were already dangling off the side.

Thank you for keeping me company when I didn’t have a roommate. I don’t think you’ll ever know how soul-crushingly lonely I was, and how you made me feel worth my weight in gold. Speaking of weight….

Thank you for caring about my health. You are my gym buddy. You push me to go harder and longer. You let me appreciate the accomplishments I reach, even if it’s baby steps I’m celebrating. You remind me to be body positive and love my body for what it is and can do, not letting me hate and criticize what I lack.

Thank you for always snapping/texting back. You always make me smile, even when it’s just your face or something you made (because you’re so creative and I’m always so impressed of what you create).

Thank you for always reminding me of deadlines, due dates, assignment details and all that jazz, because lord knows I would lose my head if it wasn’t attached.

Thank you for our many adventures, because no scale is too small. Our room, campus, DC or the DR. Lets take on the world sometime 😉

Thank you for laughing with me, loving with me, learning, living, working, playing and more with me. Thank you for your unconditional support and love that makes you more than my best friend.

Thank you for being my sister.

Happy 21st birthday darling. Best wishes on the many happy years to come, and may they be filled with luck, love and laughter, always.

All my love,

Tori