my friends

I have the best friends in the world.

The simple fact is that I think I must be the luckiest person in the entire world. The people who I love and surround myself with have shown me what it means to be kind, what it means to have fun, what it means to be human. The friendships I have made in Bethel, in Newark, in San Francisco, in Lacey - these people now live and work and love all over the world, and I know that I am cared for and surrounded by love where ever I am. I don't have a whole lot of tragedy in my life, but, in the event that it does strike, I know that I have someone to call, to cry to, to boost me up. And that is the most important thing of all.

Thank you to all my friends. Thank you for always being there for me. Thank you for understanding that I love you even though I'm at a point in my life where I have a hard time keeping any sort of constant communication open because I'm moving around so much. Thank you for meeting me that one time (at the restaurant, at the bar, at the Starbucks, at the airport, at the (fill in your own blank here)) because I didn't have enough time to spend more with you. Thank you, especially, those people who I haven't seen in years, or who a yearly meal at Christmas time is all I've seen you. Thank you to all of you who I haven't seen because you are off discovering the world in your own journey, and our paths just haven't crossed. Thank you to everyone who understands my erratic emails and facebook messages that just say "I love you and I miss you." It's the simplest way for me to express that I am so glad that you are in my life - even though you may be thousands of miles away. Thank you to everyone who has been there just to listen, even though you may not be able to do anything about the situation - you're doing the greatest thing ever just by listening.

I don't know where my adventures will take me. I do know that if I were to all of a sudden be independently wealthy, the first thing I would do would be to plan a road trip of the greats, and criss cross the United States, and take every single one of my friends out to the fanciest dinner they've ever eaten. (Not to fear, international friends, the second thing I would do is plan the international trip :)

So thank you again, for being there, for listening, for caring, for loving. This life is too short to not have the best of friends while you're living it. I'm lucky, because I do.

So, to all of you:

I love you. I miss you.

love, Bethy