Here’s to the birthday girl.
Twenty-four years old even though she feels twenty-two. My best friend of thirteen years or maybe it’s twelve and a half with all the sisterly fights we get into. Whatever I’ve known you since 2003 and oh my, things have changed. Who would have thought that we would have become friends through tutoring? One of us would always be late for the math tutoring we had to take for those stupid tests they claimed would let us move on to seventh grade. Our tutor, Mr. Lust, would mix us up because we both had shoulder length hair and I was tan at some point in our life – he even started calling us Sabrittnee. We met on the swings at recess through mutual friends and I think your Melissa shoes are what made me want to be your friend, honestly.
Her firsts were also my firsts. We lived through the growing pain years together. We’ve known each other for more than half of our lives, crazy right? She honestly wouldn’t be my best friend if I hadn’t turned to her and told her that she was my best friend. Someone had to say it first. It’s almost like the ‘I love you’ in relationships, someone had to make that move and it was me. We’re not even best friends anymore, she’s another sister. Here’s the monthly reminder that she was so short that she couldn’t keep up so that meant she would pull on the hood of my hoodie and basically choke me. There was a time when we formed a trained and I was the leader and somehow she ended up running into the door. I still laugh and end up crying about that moment because it’s a total Samantha moment.
We’re opposites yet the same. As we’ve grown over the years, traits that we both have floated to the other. They do say that the people you hang around the most will rub off on you so I’m glad I rubbed off on her because we both know that I’m pretty fabulous. Our fights are legit. I know our mothers probably wish we were better at communicating when it came down to those. We left many people stuck in the middle because that’s just how Sabrittnee rolls, I guess. At the end of those fights, one of us has to make the move (me, just in case you were wondering because Samantha doesn’t make moves I’m noticing) to request that friendship back. We’re childish. We’re kids at heart. We still act ten years old when we’re together and that’s okay because you’re only as old as you feel.
Two different high schools. Three undergraduate schools. I went to two and she went to two but was enrolled in Capital originally. Silly boys that we thought we’re going to be our forever until we got to college and we realized all the fish in the sea were surrounding us. The best years of our lives have been spent together so far. From decorating lockers in junior high to decorating the entire apartment for birthdays, we’ve had some pretty fun times. Late night drives after nights out and RPAC trips to look good for spring break – we’re your typical girls. The girls next door some would say.
I’ll never forget the time we called Corey and tried to get him to come see what was in our house after we heard a noise and he told us no. Once again proving it was us against the world – well, us against wrapping paper that fell off the fridge and made a large scratching noise. Not only did we run for our lives, we ran into two different rooms instead of the same room. Definitely not safe in numbers at that moment. Can you believe we cooked dinner for everyone on Cinco de Mayo? I still can’t believe we spent all that money and made food for all those boys. Charlie Bear has a special place in my heart. Simply because we’ve had some funny nights at that place. You might not have taken as many cupcakes as you wanted but I made sure to make my move on those cupcakes. Graduation also has a special place. We graduated two semesters apart and I’m glad because we would have never found each other to take pictures. But then again, we missed out on fun #friendshipgoal pictures. It’s okay though because we have matching Alumni hoodies and pictures to prove that.
Now, you’re in Arizona and you’re different.
It’s a good different. You’re happy and healthy. That’s all a person wants to see for their best friend. Change sucks and we learned that the hard way but at the end of the day, there’s always a blessing in disguise. You can’t push away change because it’s going to happen no matter what. You can only accept it and make the best of it – we learned that the hard way. It’s still weird sometimes. There’s a time difference that puts a pause on things during the week. That’s okay, though. From past experience, I know when I frantically FaceTime you at 10 AM EST that you will be up in Arizona because you’re an early riser. We utilize SnapChat to send outfits that we want and I would say we’re doing this long distance thing really well. I probably will never have another long distance relationship because it’s hard keeping up with one and you got that one spot.
Happy Birthday to you! And the million more that you’ll have that I’ll be able to be a part of. I could list all the things in the world that no one would understand – Berry & Cherry, random Target trips, texting boys for each other, modeling new purchases, trying to carry IKEA beds and a mattress up the stairs, road trips to NOLA and PCB, etc.
May all your wishes come true and your mottos change because get rich or die trying is not a good motto and I refuse to let you rep that in public. To Samantha, enjoy your birthday and I wish I was there!
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