Bye Bye, BFF
By Karalynn, age 15, Washington
I am pretty sure everyone has experienced the sadness, or perhaps the relief, of losing a friendship. When we're young, our personality is constantly changing. As such, the types of people we choose to surround ourselves with differ as well. But some people like myself can relate to losing a friendship through distance.
When your best friend moves away, it can seem like the end of the world. But it doesn't have to be. Just because you can't see each other every day doesn't mean you can't remain close. If you both agree to put in the effort beforehand, then keeping in touch might present itself as being easy, and the rare occasions you get to hang out will be a complete blast.
I had a best friend named Shelby. She was like a sister to me. We were always at each other's house and we did everything together. One day back in 7th grade we found out her family had to move to Atlanta, Georgia. Since I'm in Washington state, that's really far away. We were really sad when we first discovered this, but before she moved, we agreed to do a few things that would keep us close.
Our favorite movie was "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants". In the movie, the friends share a pair of jeans to send around. We wanted to do something like that. But instead we bought a t-shirt, decorated it with jewels, beads, and sparkly glue, and wrote and signed a pact stating that we would share the shirt and keep it for a certain time frame before sending it off.
We also agreed to call on the phone at least once a week after nine o'clock (because of long distance) and send a letter at least once a month. If you make it a priority to call or write on a certain day it makes it easier than just calling whenever. You'll end up anticipating the weekly phone call and you will have things you have thought to talk about. It will make keeping in touch all the easier.
Another thing Shelby and I do is we send each other small little gifts every once in a while. Of course we send birthday and Christmas gifts, but every once in a while we like to remind each other of our friendship by sending a postcard or some pictures or something. She once sent me a mug from Atlanta. It's nice because we get little souvenirs from places we haven't been, and it makes the distance seem like less of an obstacle.
I haven't seen her in person for over two years now, and I admit that it is hard, but these small things don't take much time and it has kept us good friends. It's expensive to visit by plane, and since neither of us is old enough to have a job, we haven't been able to do that yet. But for those of you who have a job, an idea Shelby and I have is to put away a tiny, tiny bit of money each month, and put your money together so that one of you can fly to visit the other.
Being away from your friends is hard, especially if it's a best friend. You almost feel as if you've lost a part of yourself. The time change is hard as well because it makes phone calls difficult. But I know that if you are currently in a situation similar to mine, that you can stay as close as ever just by trying as hard as you can not to let the distance get the best of your friendship. We have been working at it for over two years, and Shelby and I are as close as ever. I know that we will remain friends for as long as we live.
Friends forever - I love you, Shelby!
