Elementary kids turned middle schoolers were not the best at keeping in contact with each other. At the end of the year, our friendship was summed up by a single Facebook post, picture included if you were fancy, tagging all your old friends saying “I MISS YOU GUYS SO MUCH,” with a lot of sad faces attached which only really described a portion of your pain. Then everyone would comment different iterations of the original “I MISS YOU GUYS SO MUCH” and then it was over.

Middle schoolers turned high schoolers were not that much different if not just slightly better. Maybe there was a post involved, a picture still included if you were fancy, but it was less words in all caps and more an entire essay in the caption with either too much poetic language involved or too many emojis accompanied by shout outs that it resembled the lawless elementary school days a little too much. Funeral-like goodbyes became hopeful comments like “keep in contact.” The comments suggested that friendship was not over and that it would continue just as it had in middle school through text and social media.

Except middle schoolers turned high schoolers were not that much different, and contact dwindled into nothingness by the time summer was over. Some friends lasted longer, but weeks into high school lengthened the time between texts. Every week turned to every two weeks, every two weeks turned into every month, every month turned into every other month, until it was ultimately shortened into holiday greetings.

As much as I would like to blame it on moving, it was also my lack of trying. I lasted as far as five months into the school year until conversations lost substance. From the five friends, I had spent all of my middle school days with, I only had one I still talked to regularly and two I occasionally struck conversation with after months of silence.

With the last day of high school rearing its ugly or beautiful head in, I am conscious of the fact that I will probably lose contact with seniors, especially so if they go to some far out-of-state college, but it is also very possible that in the three years that passed since my last goodbye; I have changed.  I know my current friends will not be reduced to biannual well wishes on any holiday I choose because the remedy to such a fate is a little effort.