One thing I’ve learned over the years is that making friends is not easy, and it only gets harder the older you are. As this month is drawing to a close, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on the people I’ve met in the world that helped shape who I am. Since September is Friendship Month, it seems only fitting to dedicate a moment or two to those friends I’ve made that have stuck by me through thick and thin and have left a lasting impression on my life.
I moved to Boston in 2011 from a relatively small town in Virginia. Eager to get a foot in the door of the publishing industry, I transferred schools and packed my entire life into a storage pod. I never even met my roommate before she opened the door to let me into our dingy apartment in East Boston, and when my mom boarded her return flight to Virginia, I was truly on my own and alone for the first time. It was terrifying.
When I was younger and my friends couldn’t come out to play, books were where I turned. They were a constant companion in childhood that came along for the ride into adulthood. In fact, it should come as no surprise that I met my first two friends in Boston in one of my first literature classes. We didn’t become close until the following year, but we bonded over a mutual love of all things literary, and we still make jokes about that class, eight years later. Most of the friendships I have made since moving to this city have been joyously book related in some way. My current roommates and I bonded over our book hoarding tendencies, another dear friend is always telling me about the most recent audiobook she has listened to, and here at Curious George, Rosa and I banter about the latest YA novels and subscription boxes all the time.
If I’m being honest, I would be lost without these people in my life. The connections that we have made were sparked by a mutual love and have grown deeper over the years. While I know it isn’t easy to conjure up a friendship, every relationship is built on a foundation of common ground. Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone over a shared interest – you never know what best friends you might get out of it!
