Friendship is a beautiful and powerful thing. These last few years, my appreciation and gratefulness towards my friends has grown so much. We’ve created so many good memories together, but also weathered so many storms. Whenever I went through a bad period, they showered me with support and love, even when I didn’t feel like I deserved it. They didn’t disappear during those times just to show up again during the good times. No, they stuck with me through it all, through thick and thin. From heartbreaks suffered and late night chats in the park, to cafe study sessions, dinners together, birthdays celebrated, holidays spent together, and so much more. They were there for me and I was there for them. We celebrated our wins and made plans to overcome our failures.

Life is much better spent with a friend (or two or three or four) by your side. Some friends will be closer than others, naturally, but that’s okay. We need all kinds of friends in our lives. The social media friend that we communicate with mostly by sharing reels/memes. The high school/college friends that we catch up with periodically but don’t talk much throughout the year otherwise. The long distance friends that meet up and pick right back up where they left off like no time had passed at all. The close friends that we meet up and talk with regularly. And of course, the best friends, the friends that know you better than you know yourself sometimes and are there for you when shit hits the fan, though probably not before roasting you a little bit first.

If we think of friendship and friends like one dollar, it’s better to have four quarters than 100 pennies. But of course that’s just another way of saying when it comes to friends, quality is better than quantity. However, I say why not both? Unless your “friend” is being a toxic, energy-sucking friend (or anything else along those lines), it’s fine to keep them around even if they’re not exactly a quarter. I have quarters, nickels, dimes, and pennies. Heck, I’m even lucky enough to have a couple of half dollar pieces. Friends come in all different shapes (or coins, to stick with the analogy), not all of them can be your best friend, and that’s okay. I’m happy to call them all my friends.

So that’s why I’m writing this post about them. They already know all these things, but now you do, too. And maybe you’ll feel motivated or inspired to tell those people in your life how you feel about them. Because it’s so easy to take people for granted in this day and age. How often has someone done something for us and we didn’t genuinely acknowledge it? Just acted like it was the norm, a behavior to be expected rather than something to be grateful for? When was the last time you told the people in your life that you loved them? I love my friends, and I tell them often. I tell them what I like about their personalities or how appreciative I am of the things they do for me or our other friends. I tell them what they mean to me. I tell them about all the times they saved me, about how I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. If I don’t see them for a while, I tell them I miss them. Life is short and tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us, so why not say it now. But also, we should tell them not because they could leave at any moment, but because they’re here now and it’s worth saying. And for them, it’ll be worth knowing.

P.S. Below I’ve compiled some of my favorite quotes, stories, messages, etc about friendship as well as some pics of my beautiful friends. Please enjoy~