If I thought I loved you amongst the hallways of school, in between pizza nights and pasture parties, along the sidelines of football games and through the wilderness of summer camps, teenage life, and growing up beside each other, I wish you could see the way my heart bursts open for you now.
Brightly colored, bubble-lettered notes on lined paper, passed down through the hands of our peers and in the hallways between classes, have been replaced with text messages sent at all hours of the day and night, the subject matter changing but the message always the same: I'm here, I believe in you, this is what I know to be true, faith over fear, always.
You were born with a heart that knows no color, no bounds, no judgment. Instead of being jaded, you chose joy. Instead of living in the darkness, you chose to step into the light, to live your life fully immersed in the One who set the path before you. Instead of doubt, you choose a quiet confidence each morning, a confidence that comes from the deep roots of your soul growing in the richest of soils, a confidence that allows those around you to plant their own roots, to find the soil that nourishes their own growth.
I'm thankful for you in so many different ways, across many different years and points of our friendship. The way you forged through the valleys with me growing up, and the way you, quite literally, stood on the mountain tops beside me, too - I'm thankful for all of those moments that tied our souls together, that bound us to one another in a way only a life long friendship can. But what I might be most thankful for now, what I might find the most giggle inducing, joy fulfilling part of this wild life and the roads we each walk is the way we're together now, the way my phone pings each day with your words, the way my darkest fears are quieted by your light filled truths, the way we know and love each other as adults. It's not all that different from the childlike and teenage love that was ingrained in my bones for you the day we became friends all those years ago, but in a way it's stronger, deeper, filled with more respect and wonder and admiration.
Thank you for believing in me, always. Thank you for casting out the longest rope of hope and encouragement, time and time again. Thank you for believing in the goodness of this world, for doing your part to bring sunlight to the shadows. Thank you for being an endless source of inspiration, as a business owner and as a mama and as a badass human being in general. I can see you laughing over something right now, that big smile spread across your face and a babe on your hip, one leg outstretched, that general tone of awe in your voice, and in turn, it makes me smile too.
Thank you and I love you.