This post was originally published a few years ago, though I've made a few tweaks to it. I thought it was appropriate to share this week after seeing so many old friends at my 10 year reunion this weekend. Plus I'm in the midst of planning a couple of girls' trips in 2015 (DC and Vegas!), not to mention I'll be Dallas bound this weekend to visit some wonderful ladies down there. Clearly I'm feeling lots of friend love this week.

I’ve had lots of best friends over the years. My childhood jewelry box is filled with cheap necklaces bearing either the first or last half the the phrase “Best Friends Forever”. Many of those friendships didn’t make it. But a few did.

I cherish these friendships because they are real. They aren’t friendships of convenience. We all have had to make an effort over the years. When weeks or months go by without contact, someone has to reach out first. When miles separate friends, we have to really make an effort to stay close. When a friendship crashes and burns, we have to really love each other to come back together and mend what was broken.

These kinds of friendships keep me grounded. When I think I have changed beyond recognition, my sweet childhood friend reminds me that I am still very much the same girl she knew back when. I am still a bookworm, with a short fuse and a tendency to speak before I think. My roommate is there in the trenches with me. When I need someone to just sit with me and listen, I know she will always be there. And when I allow myself to dream bigger, my college roommate encourages me. I think she believes I could do anything I put my mind to, and because she believes it, I might just believe it too.

Perhaps it is unrealistic to think that we will have “best friends forever”. People change. Circumstances change. The label of “best” may fade. But the good stuff, the real friendship, can survive anything. I don’t always know the day to day details in my friends’ lives; they don’t know what is going on with me all the time. But I do know that when I need them, they will be there. And in my book, that is what friendship is all about.

Of course, there have been many friendships in my life that I didn’t include here. That doesn’t mean those friendships weren’t as meaningful or real. Promise