Silver and Gold

Sometimes, your family–the ones you can't choose–leave you in a place where you find yourself really thankful for the ones you can choose. Your friends. And y'all, I am so thankful for my friends.

My best friend from junior high and high school didn't have much say in whether or not she was going to talk to me on my first day in Albany. Without our teacher's push, she honestly probably wouldn't have–and I wouldn't have blamed her because I was a 12-year-old freak-show. But, over time, she has grown fond of me (apparently) and I have obviously liked her since the very beginning because hi she was my first friend in a new town and also she is wonderful.

Unfortunately, she lives nine states away from me. And I haven't seen her in two years.

Back in the time when we were together 7+ hours a day, 5+ days a week, we developed a strange bond. We are very, very, very different people with different views on a lot of things, but we're also the same in some of the ways that matter most. We've met in the middle of a lot of metaphorical bridges since we met each other nine years ago. And we make each other laugh constantly. She's one of the best people I've ever met and I cannot wait until I make the trip to see her in August. I have no doubt that we will fall right back into our old patterns and ways of talking and, you know, just occupying the same physical space will be awesome. It's going to be great.

As for my other four closest friends, I am also undeniably thankful for them. The Buddies, as they've long referred to themselves and which I fondly refer to them, as a unit, in my head–are a well-established (and well-known, in our hometown) group. They've seen some serious ups and downs over the last couple of years, including some unavoidable shrinking in size, but the core four has remained, unfalteringly. They are truly one of the strongest friend groups I've ever seen. Watching these girls interact is, as cliché as it may sound, like watching puzzle pieces fall into place. You don't know exactly what the puzzle will be when it's finished (and, hopefully, it never will be finished), but you know it looks pretty awesome right now.

I'm lucky they even let me hang out with them, honestly, since they were very clearly set in their adorably codependent ways before they upgraded my status from "younger girl in the newspaper room" to "part of the group text message." I'm not 100% sure what I even bring to their Sex and the City round table, but I'm also definitely not going to question it. I'll just say this: thanks for letting me have a chair.

*deep sigh* Friends, y'all. They're so important.