An Open Letter To The Best Friend Who Is Now A Stranger

We have this idea instilled in our heads that friendships should last forever. Mind you, we are completely okay with romantic relationships falling apart.

However, best friends must be best friends forever.

But here's the brutal truth: some friendships end and that's okay.?

We are humans. We make mistakes. We hurt people we love the most. We change. We evolve. We grow out of friendships we couldn't live without earlier.

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And that's necessary. It can actually be really positive for you. It can be liberating to know that?relationships of all kinds have natural expiry dates, and there is little point holding on to a friendship that no longer serves you.?

That being said, I believe it's a fabulous idea to mourn the end of a friendship in the exact same way when a romantic relationship ends.

Some of you might eat a tub of ice-cream and binge watch Netflix. But for me, I will mourn my best-friend leaving me by writing a letter to her that I'll never send:

Hey there, stranger.?

We weren't just best friends. You were my family. There was always a spot for you on my dining table at home. My parents took you in as their third child. If that's not sacred, then nothing is. We woke up to each other and slept to each other's texts.

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Check my WhatsApp media: our chat window is flooded with innumerable funny selfies I would never send to anyone. It's filled with pictures of all the places we want to visit. Our chat is full of memes that I feel were written keeping us in mind.

You were my 'bestest' friend.

Good news wouldn't feel like good news if you weren't around to celebrate it with. We probably would have never gotten over our break-ups with our respective boyfriends if it wasn't for the two of us seeking support from one another.?

But.

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The unthinkable happened. You stopped speaking to me. All of a sudden and out of nowhere.

Do you know what it feels like to lose the one person you thought would be standing next to you till the very end? I bet you don't because I wasn't the one who walked away.?

On the outside, we looked like we had the perfect friendship. I think that's why it came as such a shock to everyone when they found out we were no longer friends. The reality was,? the awkward silences and tension from your side grew so much it became unbearable.?

I couldn't have any of us disrespecting everything we held sacred. So that's why walking away felt right.?

But I am thankful to you.

If you wouldn't have left I would have never been motivated to write. I wouldn't have fallen in love. I wouldn't have been able to be this close to my sister.

Why? Because you took up all my day. All the space on my phone. My days were either spent chilling with you, or talking and texting with you to the extent I actually no had other real relationships in my life.??

Maybe that's why you had to leave. For me to become the person I am today.?

Illustration by Ranak Mann