On October 7th 2012, I met my best friend. That is, my best friend who lives in Canada. We met on a blog site, and as dangerous as that may sound, she ended up being the closest and best friend I’ve had. Her name is Alex, and I can trust her with anything and everything, which is such a great feeling.

We started talking in January clearly by luck; I happened to see her name and thought she’d be fun to talk to. We ended up just clicking and having a close connection right away. We have experienced some of the same things in life, such as family troubles, abuse, and other personal problems. The abuse subject is one thing we bonded over very quickly. I had come to her one day after we started talking, because I was having a problem with family abuse, and she helped me through it, also sharing her own experience with it. She told me about how her mom had abused her in the past, and it just so happened that my mom was the same way. We shared experiences and formed a connection without even realizing it. I then soon after this came to her with more problems, and she confided in me what she was having problems with. We started talking more, and I started to realize that I had shared with her more things than I’d shared with anyone before.


We brought up the thought of meeting in May, because this past summer I was supposed to take a trip into Canada. Both of us were really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, the trip didn’t happen, and we were back at square one. The idea was brought up a few more times, but we never elaborated on it. As summer ended, I went through a few rough times; my parents announced they were separating (this would be the second divorce I’ve gone through), and my grandmother whom I was very close with passed away just a week before school started. In addition to those issues, junior year was approaching quickly. This meant a very stressful school year was coming. Alex helped me through all of these times and proved that she was a true friend. It was becoming more and more clear to me that she really cared about me and wanted me to be happy. After all, isn’t that what friends are supposed to do?
In August, we talked about meeting again, since she had told me that she was coming to New York City for her birthday. Her parents agreed, and we were both ecstatic. It made the coming of cold weather a little better for me. When October got here, I was so excited to finally be able to hug the person who’s gotten me through so much. Although we had only talked for 10 months at that point, it was enough to have formed a very strong friendship that has survived a lot of ups and downs.

We met on a Sunday, and I had to work during the morning. The day seemed to drag by, and in addition I still had to drive to Lake George to get to the hotel that she and her parents were staying in. My dad and I made the best of it though; I basically nervous-talked the whole way there. I had texted Alex and asked where she was, since earlier she had told me she was going shopping in Albany. As it turned out, we were driving by each other without even knowing. We ended up following them to their hotel, and I feel like that was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. The hotel where they were staying had a water park attached, so she and I spent our time there while our parents got acquainted. I was really happy that there was time for just the two of us to hang out. It gave us time to talk and hang out without having our parents looking over our shoulders; it made meeting her even more special. I had gone to Lake George a few weeks prior, and when it came time for dinner, I told everyone that we should visit the restaurant that I had previously been to. The day we met was also Alex’s birthday, so I had given her gifts but it felt 10 times more special to be meeting her on her birthday since it was already an important day, but now it’s something she won’t forget. She had told me she’d never eaten s’mores before, and the restaurant that we went to happened to have a really cool s’mores dessert that included getting a small fire to roast your marshmallow over, right at the table. I couldn’t wait for her to try it, and she was pretty excited as well when I told her. Since we still had to drive home, we had to leave shortly after, but we had already arranged plans for my father and me to visit Canada next summer.

Meeting Alex was special to me for many reasons. Being able to see my best friend and talk to her in person, to be able to hug her and finally thank her for everything she’s done for me, was great. I’m so thankful for her being in my life; I don’t know what I’d do if she wasn’t there for me. She’s the kind of person who will not let you be sad; she does whatever she can to make you smile, laugh, or just feel good about yourself. Anytime I’m upset, she can tell, and she’s there to hear me vent and help me through it. I believe every person needs one friend who he/she can go to with anything and know that that one person is going to be there for him/her no matter what. Someone who will help him/her through ups and downs and will never judge him/her, someone who he/she is comfortable with, that is my idea of a best friend.

One thing that I’ve learned from meeting Alex is never give up on something you feel strongly about. If you don’t work for it and have ambitions, you won’t get anywhere in life. It took some time and some convincing, but we met, and that’s something I will never, ever regret. She’s definitely a person I want in my life forever, and I can’t wait to hang out with her again next summer. Life will definitely hand you many opportunities; it only matters what you do with them.