Two years ago, Ani Burch and I went to a Sturniolo Triplets show together. Which sounds like the start of a friendship, but it wasn’t. We were there, barely talked, and left with nothing more than a vague memory of each other. If anything, it was the perfect setup for a “we should’ve been friends, but we weren’t” story. And then we didn’t really talk for a year.
No drama, no fall out, just mutual “yeah, I know her” when someone asked one of us about each other and moving on with life. If you had told me then that she’d end up being one of the most important people in my life, I honestly would’ve laughed. Probably at the idea that someone I barely spoke to would someday know all my secrets, my moods, and what I was thinking before I even had to say anything.
But somehow, life threw us into similar situations, and that turned into actually talking, like really talking. The kind where you don’t have to explain yourself because the other person already gets it. And once that started, it didn’t stop.
Ani went from being someone I happened to know to someone I couldn’t imagine not having around. My routines, my thoughts, my random late night adventures, all of it suddenly included her. We became inseparable, not in some picture perfect way, but in a “sitting in the same place for hours, laughing at anything and everything, repeating bad jokes until they’re somehow funnier” kind of way.
Some days, we’re like Glinda and Elphaba: opposite in energy, constantly teasing each other, but somehow always having each other’s backs. Other days, we’re like Burr and Hamilton: arguing about completely ridiculous stuff, both convinced we’re right, and then forgetting it ever mattered five minutes later.
It obviously hasn’t been perfect, nothing ever is. We’ve had moments that were hard, that made me question things for a second. But somehow, we always end up back where we started. Talking and laughing. Now everything is about to change.
Next year, I’ll be five hours away. Five hours doesn’t sound like much until you realize there’s no more random hallway meet ups, no more seeing each other without thinking about it, no more being part of each other’s everyday life in the way we’ve always been. And honestly, that part hurts more than I thought it would.
Adjusting takes time. Little things that mean not so much now will mean everything in a few months. And I think that’s okay, just not easy. We’re both scared. Scared about what happens after I graduate, scared that all the routines, inside jokes and late night adventures might feel smaller, and scared that the same thing that’s kept us close might stretch across too many miles.
Even just saying the words “Caelin’s going to college,” or the single word “college,” makes us both tear up. Like, one sentence, one word, and suddenly the room is too quiet, and the joke is gone, and all that’s left is knowing that things are about to change in a way we can’t control.
But if there’s one thing I know, it’s this: we didn’t find each other the easy way. We met at a noisy show, didn’t really talk for a year, and somehow we ended up inseparable. Next year will be different, and yeah, it’s scary thinking about all the distance and the “what comes next” stuff. But I think we’ll be okay.
Some people come into your life and end up meaning more than you could ever really explain. They’re there through everything. Big moments, small ones, and all the in-between, and somehow they make the hard days feel lighter and the good days even better. And no matter what comes next, that kind of bond doesn’t just disappear, it stays, steady and constant, no matter where life goes. I hope everyone gets to experience finding a friend like Ani; something real, something rare, and something that sticks with you forever.
