Friends

I know I've told a lot of people this, but in case you didn't know, I had the chance to move to Colorado four years ago. I was offered an internship in Grand Junction, Colorado an hour or two before I was offered an internship in Skokie. I ended up choosing to stay in Chicago because it just felt right. And if I hadn't done that, a lot of other things wouldn't have happened. Most importantly, I wouldn't have had the time to form deeper friendships with some of the people who I now know will be my friends for life. I have a good number of people who I know would be there for me no questions asked. That's incredible. There aren't words to express how much your friendship means to me. I hope you know. But just in case, here it is in blog form.

Thank you for helping me feel free to become my truest self and change and grow in so many ways. Thank you for accepting me at my best and at my worst, for being there for me to celebrate things and to be there for me when things weren't going well at all. Thank you for the friends' dinners, endless conversations, laughing fits, volleyball for hours on end, fireworks watching, baseball games, sushi and dancing nights, cookouts, and holidays. Thank you for being my family and home away from home.

I'm moving away to see what else is out there, to try to grow even more, to experience new things and meet new people, to challenge myself professionally, to climb some mountains, and to have no regrets. What if I had been too scared to leave Kansas City? I wouldn't have met any of you. And it is so amazing to know how many friends I can count on no matter the distance.