I have a best friend. I’ve had many best friends in my life, many people I’ve shared my days with and laughed with and spilled all my secrets to. But nobody compares to the best friend I have now. Every day I wake up and want to talk to her, tell her about the crazy bizarre dream I had and discuss our day plans. As an introvert who has kept to myself my entire life, it’s rare to have found someone who I still want to be around when I’m mentally drained. But my best friend is one person who I’ll never get sick of, who I still want around when I need alone time. Rather than drain my energy, she fuels me. She makes me want to be the best version of myself but still allows me to be who I am at the moment.
My best friend is two years younger than me, as we met through work. I went off to university in a different city, leaving behind all of my hometown friends. Keeping long-distance friends was difficult, I discovered. Many of my closest friends at the time rarely answered my messages and we didn’t stay in touch. Drifting apart once you move through life is a tough thing to go through. But my best friend and I shockingly got even closer during our time apart, sending video updates of our lives and texting as if we’d never left each other. When I went back for the summer, our bonding time when we were apart only strengthened our friendship and she ended up choosing to come to the same university as me in the fall. Since then, we’ve decided to live together in the upcoming year which I guarantee will only make us closer.
I look at this friendship with such awe, as I never knew I could want to be around a specific individual so much. I never find myself wishing to be alone in the presence of my best friend. There are so many admirable qualities I see in her and despite me being two years her senior, I find myself looking up to her. She’s so dedicated to everything she does and has a spark and energy about her that I love. We’re as similar as we’re different, which is why I think we work so well as friends. We can learn just as much from each other as we can relate to each other, spend time in silence and also enjoy talking over each other. She motivates me, and I motivate her. We know what each other is thinking before we say it and value the same things in a friendship. If there is one thing I am most grateful for in life, it’s meeting my best friend. I can’t imagine life without her, and I know no matter where we are in life we’ll always be each other’s person.