Autumn VanSolkema

A collage of photos throughout our friendship.

I don’t have a childhood best friend. 

I have always thought that I was missing out on something. I hear people talking about the person they have known forever. The one that has shared their highest highs and lowest lows. The one that knows each and every facet of their life. 

I have never had the opportunity to have a friend who has been there with me through it all. I do not live where I was born, so a childhood best friend is simply not feasible. 

I do have something better, though. Something that I will be eternally grateful for. 

I met her at one of my lowest points, during a time when I lost the friends I once thought would be there for me forever. 

She met me when she lost the person that was once her best friend. 

I found her at the perfect time when both of us needed each other the most. 

She sat behind me in choir class, and over time, somehow, I ended up sitting right beside her. 

The laughs we have shared and the tears we have shed beside each other mean more to me than I could have once imagined. 

No one talks about the person you meet when you need them the most. I thought I had everything figured out and that they would be my friends for all of high school; that was ripped away from me. 

The pain that I felt from that loss was worth it, though, because I met her. When the door I thought would be open forever shut, I was devastated, but another much brighter door was opened at the perfect time.  

I have memories that will forever be ingrained in my mind because of her. Sitting in the trunk of her car whilst watching a rom-com in front of a sunset. Late night Target runs in a blizzard where she got into her first-ever car accident. Countless photoshoots in the summer heat and winter chill. Carrying her backpack around and riding in the elevator with her after her knee surgery. When I accidentally stole a pair of sweatpants from H&M and then lost my phone at the mall. Searching countless stores so we could find the Doorable we wanted. 

The past three years have been filled with uncertainty and change; she has been the one constant in my life. No matter what happens, I know I can always count on her to be there for me. To listen when I need to rant, to joke when I need to laugh, and to comfort when I need to cry. 

I may not have known her forever, but the joy she has given me will last a lifetime.