Throughout my so-far short life, I have suffered a series of losses.
I have lost friends, family members, and opportunities. This is not to say that I have not gained anything, but I have come to the point to where I am sick and tired of losing people and missing out. As I have entered into the world of college this year, all of those feelings of loss have come back as I have had to say goodbye to friends who now go to different colleges.
Most of my friends are now in college; those who are not yet in college are seniors in high school and are on their way to taking that big step.
With the prospect of change, there are always pros and cons. As much as I will miss my friends, they are coming into a new chapter of their lives and I am excited for them. I am worried, however, about slowly but surely drifting away from my close friends.
If there is one person I do not want to lose, it is my best friend Christina. We have been like sisters for 18 years and as the date her departure nears, I become increasingly worried that the distance between us will result in another loss.
College is a time of leaving the old and finding the new–discovering new interests and making new friends.
As far as I know, no one could ever replace Christina in my life, but what if she finds someone who could possibly replace me in hers? Eighteen years is a long time and throughout those eighteen years, we have been through a lot both personally and individually. All problems and victories, big and small, we have cried and celebrated over together.
Will College End Your Friendship?
It would be unrealistic of me to think that college will completely rip us a part, but even now as our workloads pile up and our lengthy phone conversations become few and far between, I am seeing even now the systematic drifting that may get farther as the months go on.
Where There Are Problems, There Are Solutions.
Last year, my friend moved to Florida, leaving his girlfriend behind in New York. How did they keep their romance alive? By going on Skype dates to Starbucks together. Both of them would go to Starbucks with their laptops, get a drink, sit down and drink their coffees together over Skype.
Skype Your Friendship Back to Life.
When in-person conversations and hang outs are impossible in-person, that is when technology can be used to benefit your friendships. By scheduling a Skype/Oovoo date, phone sessions, or by sending care packages to one another, your friendship will remained intact and possibly just as healthy as it was when you saw each other back home.
What to Remember:
At the end of the day, my rational mind comes back to me and reminds me of the seventeen years of sisterhood that has defined our relationship. One of “our songs” is the Beatles song “Two of Us,” our favorite line from it being: “you and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.” If that is proved true in our lives before, we could not possibly drift apart no matter how great the distance.
