So I know these girls ….

“I like to think I am Queen of the Ya-Yas, the sisterhood I’ve been part of since I was four. But the fact is that all of us are queens. The Ya-Yas are not a monarchy. We are a Ya-Ya-cracy.”
- Vivi, Ya-Yas in Bloom by Rebecca Wells

I’m lucky enough to have my own set of girlfriends like the Ya-Yas. I know, I know, everyone has best friends, but I’ve yet to meet a ton of people who’ve had the same best friends for most of their lives, despite different high schools, different colleges, and different personalities. I think everyone should have at least one friendship like this – I’m lucky enough to have three. My three best friends are beautiful, intelligent, and awesome to be around. Katie’s always having fun, living in the moment and ready to make you smile. Tory’s our advice-giver, serene and sympathetic, always there for a hug when you need one, but not afraid to kick some ass when asses need kicking. Sarah’s just Sarah,  sarcastic and brilliant, the one who surprises you, shocks you, but would drop anything at a moments’ notice for you. I don’t even know how to describe myself, or where I fit in with the three of them. I just do. Like the Ya-yas, we are all queens. Different, yes, but somehow, we’ve stayed together, and I can’t be more thankful for it…

Born like sisters to this world
In a town where blood ties are only blood
If you never say your name out loud to anyone
They can never ever call you by it
Regina Spektor, Better

It’s been so long since the four of us have been away together, on our own (the last time was girl scout camp when we were in the seventh grade, now that I think about it). I’m counting down the days until we’re all together again, in sunny Florida. We’re not little girls anymore. We’ve grown up, but we haven’t left that last part of us behind. Our friendship still stands to remind us of who we are, where we’ve come from, and what else we have to achieve.

It would be easy to say that the pants changed everything that summer. But looking back now I feel like our lives changed because they had to, and that the real magic of the pants was in bearing witness to all of this and in somehow holding us together when it felt like nothing would ever be the same again.
-The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

We’ve had our rough patches, and that’s no secret to anyone. We’ve all changed over the years, and we’ve faced a lot of tough things together. The bad times (which are drastically outnumbered by the good times) certainly exist. It’s not exactly easy trying to figure out who you are for yourself when you have three people who know you better than you know yourself trying to tell you. It’s not easy to keep calling, it’s not easy to say that you’re sorry. But at the end of the day, we made it. We’ve made it through the past ten years (at least), and we’ll keep making it. I can’t imagine my life without Sarah and Katie and Tory. I don’t even want to think about it. No matter where I am, or what happens, I know that they’re there and they love me for me. If I need them, they’re there. Simple as that.

Let me be the one you call If you jump, I will break your fall, lift you up and fly away with you into the night If you need to fall apart, I can mend a broken heart, If you need to crash, then crash and burn, you’re not alone”
-Crash and Burn by Savage Garden

I miss you girls like crazy. I love you, and I can’t wait to see you.