Goodbye Microwave

Gracie Taylor’s swedish skills amount to saying, “Jag är en micro” and a few other phrases, but that doesn’t make her any less of the amazing person I know her to be

Early this morning I caught a train. My destination?

Alingsås, Sweden. Just north of Varberg.

This trip was not the usual visit.

My best friend was being sent home. Her flight is tomorrow morning

Where do I start? We climbed swedish castles, swam at nudist beaches, and got lost in cities just to name a few memories. It’s been crazy fun getting to knowing her.

Life has been so much sweeter with her as my best friend-and not just because all the fikas we had.

It’s been a fast three months but I feel like I’ve known her forever. We’ve been through every day of my exchange together. I don’t know what I’m gonna do without her

How do you say goodbye to a best friend?

She was always the first friend I told whenever I had news. When my boyfriend broke up with me over text, she was the first friend I called. She could make me laugh til it hurt even when I felt like crying.

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On her last day, I bought us matching rings and put them on matching pearl necklaces-friendship necklaces. That night we had one last sleepover. It was the only way to end her exchange.

There were moments when the world around us tuned out, and we were just two teenage girls without a worry in the world. Time stopped-if just for a few moments.

The moment Gracie turned away from her boyfriend Andrei and I in the airport is when it hit me. She left. My best friend is really gone.

Gracie texted me right after we parted ways.

-Turns out I wasn’t the only one that immediately started crying. Her boyfriend too. I cried so hard I puked on the car ride back.

Last time I lost a best friend it was me who left. I honestly couldn’t tell you which one is worse; going away or being the one that’s left behind.