Growing up means losing friends and that's okay

If there is one thing I have learned going from school to school and city to city is that the people you were once close to don't always stay close, and those that do, are a dime a dozen. Growing up my dad was in the army so I very rarely got to stay in one school for long. Which always made me the new girl and I rarely made any close friends just passer-by's. We finally stopped moving when I was in 6th grade and settled in Las Vegas, Nevada or specifically Henderson where I remained until I left for college. 

Being in one city and one state was so nice and I made friends in middle school who I grew super close to from grade to grade and I was SO excited to have these people going to high school with me. We all know how awkward these times were, friends were important! BUT the oh so wonderful Clark County School District decided to rezone all of the Henderson/Green Valley/Anthem/Silverado area schools and break us up!!! O.m.g. I was so sad to know the people I called "BFF's" were now going to a totally different high school than I was. I mean how could they do that?! My parents told me I was being dramatic and i'd just make new friends... Well mom and dad I made new friends every year for a long time and having to do that again going in to high school was THE WORST! So, there I was again an awkward middle school girl having to make friends once again at a new school with new faces. 

Welp here I was at Coronado High entering my first day at band camp >.< I know I just said that (LOL) and about 120 kids in the marching season meant I made friends surprisingly fast. There I was a 14 year old clarinet player, awkward as heck because well... we were freshman and who wasn't? I can't recall my first friend or how exactly my group came about, but those first two weeks before the year started I became close with what I call my first hub of people. We did EVERYTHING together. With high school being the time of M.A.S.H., notebooks, notes folded in squares, sleepovers, discovering make-up, dances, assemblies, dance team, National Honor Society and where we discover who we think we are, I thought these people were forever my best friends. Then came senior year where we all chose different paths, different colleges, but we promised to keep in touch, to visit each other, and to never forget one another. Well that as we all know was the young minded individual thinking things were going to be that simple and easy entering the start to the real world:  College. 

My first year of college was basically a larger high school because I stayed home and went to UNLV (ick!) so thankfully I didn't experience the loss of very many friendships (yet) but hell I felt stuck and like nothing changed in my life but a few people leaving. With summer vacations coming and going I still felt close to "my high school hub" it wasn't until we reached fall of 2010 where I finally left home and transferred to UNR (woo wolfpack!) and was finally one of those people parting ways... 

In my first year at UNR I connected with people from my high school that I wasn't close to so much in h.s. but sure became close to in college . I discovered A LOT! Like having your own apartment, parties, greek life, sports on another level, campus events, movie nights, binge watching shows, the gym, and a part of me I never knew of. My first year away I learned how much I hated the library yet it was my second home, and how important your friendships were to surviving the semester. This time of my life and these people became the second hub. My new home away from home, friends that turned into family, and those I thought knew me better than the people in my first hub of friends. As time went on in college and as we got older things started to change, friendships began to be one sided, and it was my junior year I finally realized some friendships just aren't built to last. It was a lesson I didn't like, but it was one I soon realized would continue to be true the older I got. 

Fast forward to 24 year old me writing this post now I have come to appreciate the friendships that have lasted. I can say that from my first high school hub I am still very close to a handful of them and I am so beyond grateful for my original friendships. We have grown with one another over the last 7+ years and they have truly been there for me since the start. These people are what set the foundation for the rest of my friendships. My Reno hub is split in a few different groups, but I know that if I called any single one of these people and needed someone to listen or just be there they would. These are the friendships where the quote "Here's to the nights that turned into mornings with the friends that turned into family." 

I now have a third new hub here in the Bay where my friendships continue to grow and I continue to learn and flourish with them. The beauty of it all is that all my hubs connect in one way or another and each of them continue. I am thankful everyday for these people who have not strayed and left me with a one sided friendship. All of you have contributed to my sanity, my success, my happiness, and overall well being in some way or another! 

Thanks for reading along guys, this was a long one. I simply wanted to share and put it out there how important it is to keep in touch with those that matter to you. Life gets in the way sometimes and we all forget to try a little harder. So I am taking this time to say I love you all and thank you for your friendship over the years <3 

XoXo, 
Shay