Growing up I didn’t have many friends. I was too afraid to let people in and never really knew how to express love unless it was with my family. I was always a target for people so instead of making friends I needed to protect myself.

Then, at the age of 13, I met Samantha.

Love comes in many different forms, and one of its strongest forms of love is the kind between two best friends. They know you so deeply it can be shocking, they notice the small things, and they’ve always got your back.

Samantha and I are exactly alike. We’re like two peas in a pod. We’re also quit opposite. She’s 5’0 and really feisty, I’m 5’3 and a bit more reserved. Which is a good thing because we protect each other in different ways. She kind of like a chiwawa, cute and small, but very protective.

We have been best friends since forever, we met in middle school and have been inseparable since then. We would go everywhere together, even places like the local corner store.

I never had a friend who would text me saying “Hey I’m at your house, see you when you get here” or “come down stairs we’re going to McDonalds.” She’s the only friend that is allowed to do that.

In my senior year of high school I was in a bad spot, I struggled before but this time, it felt like the end of the world. Samantha and I didnt attend the same high school, but we lived down the block from each other. She would check up on me everyday and say “I just wanted to see how you were feeling.”

She would come to my house everyday and stay with me, sometimes I would cry and she would sit next to me and hold me while I cried. Sometimes she cried with me, whenever we had boy trouble we would come over to each other’s houses with chocolate because we believe that chocolate is the best thing to have when your heart is broken.

Even just recollecting those times brings tears to my eyes. Someone who cares about me and recognizes how serious my pain was without me having to say it. She was sensitive and attentive to my feelings. That is what a best friend should be.

I knew at that moment that she would always be there for me through thick and thin.

Sadly since we got older things have been different. I barely see her now. Which makes me really sad because I really miss having sleep overs and making silly videos together.

It’s not like we lost contact. It’s just that since I’m in school and working, and she’s a mother now, and we’re both in romantic relationships we became really busy.

It takes a lot of patience for a friendship like this to continue. We actually stopped talking for a few months because I hated how much things were changing.

It’s like, one moment we’re planning all the events to each other’s weddings and planning on being the god mothers to our children and then the next we barely have time to hang out.

I was sad for months, it felt like I lost my other half. Friendships need new things, new memories, rather than using nostalgia as the glue holding a friendship together.

Of course, it’s fun to reminisce about the time we got home past dusk and got in huge trouble, or the time we successfully lied to to our mothers to go to our first house party, but living in the past can make us both feel emotionally stunted and a bit stale. That’s how I felt at the time.

To keep our friendship strong, we keep in contact and hang out when we can. Even if it’s not what it used to be.

We have a thing where we tag each other in memes everyday. Tagging your best friend in a meme is the lifeblood of your friendship.

Seriously though, if she doesn’t tag me in a meme I immediately think there’s another best friend in the picture.

Although things are tough right now, I love my best friend with every bone in my body. I would always be there for her and vise versa. No matter what, I’ll always be my best friend’s keeper.