Goodbye Again

One of my best friends is moving to Colorado. I hate it.

It’s also made me incredibly reflective on my life. This friend has seen every significant mile-marker in my life since I graduated college. Every changing season, every big win, every heartbreaking loss. This friend has seen it all in live-action time, and been one of the first people I’ve told about it all.

And now life is going to look different again.

How strange is it to not have someone who has been so significant to you around. Someone whose face has become a routine sight of comfort and assuredness. Someone who has listened well. Someone who has offered a shoulder to cry on (literally). Someone who has laughed at your jokes, and mocked the ones that fell flat.

There are so many past versions of me who would be crumbling right now at the thought of saying goodbye to someone so important to me. Instead, I’ve been looking back on the growth that has come in the timespan of that friendship and I’m emotional thinking about how much I have grown.

I’m not the same person I used to be at all. The version of myself who I was when I first graduated college, wasn’t the same as the version who worked her first career job. The version of me who worked my first career job, wasn’t the same as the version who faced 3 surgeries in 1 year. The version of me who moved into my first apartment, isn’t the same as the version of me who is writing this post.

I hate saying goodbye. I’m going to miss my friend, and life is going to feel different without them around. But I also am so proud of who I’ve become over the past few years, and feel blessed to look back on all that has changed in my life since then.