this is an article/essay/whatever that was sent to me one day by one of my friends. i don't know who the author is, and so can't give him/her credit. but whoever wrote it certainly deserves a lot of credit.....

Going home for that first break from college, you notice people have changed. Mostly for the better, and seldom for the worse. People have grown up and it's not that you like them better now, it's that you have more respect for them. In High School people were afraid to change, for fear that their "friends" would turn against them. But in college, new friendships are made, and you become more of an individual; realizing that you only have four years to find yourself will do that to a person. You begin dating if you've never dated before, get serious if you never have with one person, or date five people at one time if you were tied down before. And you make mistakes. It's a scary time. You're trying to get adjusted, make the grades and have a wonderful social life all at one time. Not to mention trying to make friends who won't pull you down, but help you up the ladder of life. It seems like a race to see who could get there the quickest and be involved in everything at once. It's really sad to know that when you said goodbye to your best friends on the last day you were home, that might have been the last time you knew the real them, or they knew the real you, or so you thought. Look at your old friends now, they're no longer whiny or self or obnoxious or introverted if they were before. They are outgoing, caring, compassionate, understanding and scared, just like everyone else. Nobody likes to lose best friends, but sometimes it just happens. And sometimes it happens that you're closer than ever before. Distance really makes you think, and it makes you long just to see your one best friend in person. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't and sometimes you just don't want to. You never realize just how close you really were until you aren't anymore. It's normal and healthy. It's also okay to pick up the phone and call them, let them know what you're thinking and that you miss them. They won't mind, in fact they will be flattered. It takes two people for a relationship, but it only takes one to end it, or really hurt the other. So call your best friends and tell them you miss them and that they can never truly be replaced. Tell them that your neighbor down the hall is great and he/she would like them as much as you do. Tell them about you, your friends and your new interests. Even tell them about the new love of your life. But most of all reminisce about the past, it's guaranteed to put a smile on both your faces.