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Last night my daughter said goodbye to her childhood best friend. They are leaving this week-two days apart—both off on new adventures and both ready to fly.
There is something special about your childhood best friend. They have been with you since the beginning. They knew you through your awkward stage with bad hair and braces and still loved you. They have seen you struggle to find yourself and figure life out. They know your strengths and your weaknesses. They know little secrets about you that others never will.
There is a different comfort level with someone who has known and loved you since you were little. All masks are off and transparency feels safer.
There is no friend like a friend who has known you since you were five.
Watching them hug last night flooded me with flashbacks— memories of little girls all dressed up and fancy going out to eat at Chipotle. Memories of them in Girl Scout uniforms or soccer uniforms, more concerned with the snack at the end than the actual activity. Memories of countless Halloweens together and making sure that friend was available when planning birthday parties because you knew that was the one person that mattered most to be there to celebrate.
I remembered their giggles and their dances. Their dress up days and the days where they never took their swim suits off. The marathon play dates that never seemed to end time because life was just more fun together.
Over the years they developed new friendships and went to different high schools but that connection that formed when they were five, it held strong. Even though their days we no longer spent together, their roots were deeply entangled.
They grew up side by side and they will forever be part of each other.
Childhood creates a rope stronger than any force out there. We don’t remember all the memories but we remember and treasure the people we made them with.
After the hug I heard one of them say “Come visit me” and I knew that invitation went beyond just college.
It was a lifelong invitation to an open door and a forever open heart.
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This made me cry. Its so true. They will come visit, maybe not tomorrow, but one day. And your conversation will pick up just where you left off.