f.r.i.e.n.d.s.

thelma & louise. bert & ernie. lucy & ethel. dwight & michael. rachel, monica, phoebe, chandler, ross & joey.

my friendships have always been extremely important to me, not unlike many other people, i'm sure. the group of friends that i have now are the best of my life and i make a point to try to keep us all together, try to do my part to keep things going strong. my friends are my other family, and what would i be without family? alone, that's what.

i am blessed to have several friends i can call my best...and not like in 3rd grade when you only had one best friend that you spent every waking moment with. no, these friends are always there, even when i don't see them or talk to them. some of them go as far back as elementary school and some of them are recent additions to my life, and all of them are valuable pieces of my life. different friends carry different relationships, but they are all important, no matter the characteristics of our friendship.

mostly everyone can say there were times when friends were the only thing that got them through...that counts for me, too. my family is wonderful and of course they love me unconditionally, but sometimes it takes a friend to pull you out of the hole. since kyle isn't in west virginia very often anymore, my friends have kept me company, made me laugh, encouraged me and made me feel loved. and it helps that they miss kyle just like i do and often say at parties and get togethers "man, i wish kd was here." it makes me feel better that they love him, too, and when he can finally make his way back home, we will all have a blast being together. my friends have helped me and loved me through more than just kyle being gone, but that is the ongoing struggle i have that they never fail to help with, and i am so thankful.

so i guess this is just a huge "thank you" to my friends. you know who you are. i love you all more than you will ever know.