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Friendship

So, I bought a journal today, and perhaps I will write something in it later, but I figured what I want to say right now is something that the whole world can read if they want.

In high school, there are people we just end up being friends with, people we are friends with because we're too nice to blow them off, and people who are our friends because they're too nice to blow US off. Then, there are the people you looked at, almost with a longing, just wishing to be their friend. I don't necessarily mean the popular girls who could get whatever they wanted; I never wanted to be one of those girls. I mean those people you found so interesting, so kind, so... intriguing that you just wanted to get to know them and were convinced that if you could just learn more about each other you could become the best of friends.

There's always some reason, though, that you never make that connection with these people. It might be because you already have friends and don't think about it much, or maybe it's that you look at those people and their friends and think you don't really have anything to offer, or maybe it's just that life never really gives you the opportunity to get to know each other. Sometimes, though, you get lucky and life gives you another chance to get to know these people.

When I first met Vanessa Belcher my junior year, there was something about her that told me she and I could be the best of friends, and in a very difficult period of my life, she was one of my strongest supports, but once that summer vacation hit, our friendship dissolved. If you would have told me then that I'd be preparing to move into an apartment with her, I would have probably told you that you're a crazy person. Now, though, I can see that I was right. It seems that Vanessa and I are so similar in our personalities and our struggles and our views on life that we could share a brain. Maybe we had never needed each other until now, or maybe we just weren't both looking for a friend like that at the same time, but I am so thankful that she has become a more permanent presence in my life.

People come and go from our lives so quickly these days, it seems, but I have learned to pay attention to the friends who keep reappearing in your life, the ones who you hear from more than when they write happy birthday on your facebook wall. Always keep your heart open to people because you never know when you might meet a truly incredible, beautiful person who can change your life in ways neither of you can describe.

I have been lucky because I have had the fortune of meeting several such friends in my life in addition to Vanessa. To all of you, thank you for your friendship and your love and for all of the things you've taught me.

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