Tomorrow is your birthday. Your 30th. I thought about holding this letter off until then, but since I'll be seeing you tomorrow night to celebrate, I wanted to give you these words today, on the last day of your twenties.
Two nights ago I tried on a dress. A simple but interesting black wrap dress that I bought a few months ago. It's a dress that could fit in as easily at a cocktail party as it could on date night, and I could have worn it at least 3 or 4 times since I bought it, but I haven't. For three months it has been hanging in my closet, waiting. Because this isn't just any black dress, but the one that I will wear in three weeks on your wedding day. The one I will wear to watch my smart and beautiful best friend walk down the aisle and marry her man.
And when I was looking in the mirror deciding on alterations and accessories, I had a flashback of myself in front of similar mirrors in the weeks before my sisters' weddings. It occurred to me, as I was standing there in two different earrings and two different shoes, that I feel the same way now as I did then. That I am not just getting ready for a friend's wedding, but a sister's wedding. A family wedding.
Because over the past twelve years that is what we have become. Family. Family that is fun and fancy and silly and serious. Family that laughs together, cries together, celebrates together and mourns together. Family that walks life's twisty paths together.
Eleven months ago I stood on a street corner in the Upper West Side neighborhood where we became who we are, and watched you get engaged. And I knew that I was watching a turning point. A moment that would divide your life in before and after. That would draw a line between what was and what will be. Over the past year you have walked that line with grace and poise, and in three weeks, with a few words and a really fabulous ring, you will step over the line and into a future that is nothing but bright. I know without a doubt that the very best for you is still to come, and it is a privilege to be able to watch it all unfold.
I am nothing but grateful for the twist of fate that put us on the same freshman hall twelve years ago, and I am lucky every day that I get to call you my friend. My family. We've got your back. Always.
Happy 30th. To this day, and many, many more.
With love,
Sam
What a heartfelt, beautiful post. Certain friends become family to us, and I don't think I could say it any better than you just did. :)
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