A kind of love I cherish

Love is an exciting topic to talk about; you can find many songs with the word 'love' in them, in poetry, in movies, in books, and even more in people.
And for me, besides my parents, I have found the form of love in friendship with my friends.

I was 12 when I first knew what kind of love in friendship was.
It was when my friends came to me, talked to me, and made me feel that the city I was living in at that time wasn't terrifying and somehow felt more familiar. I lived far away from my parents — at least for a 12-year-old girl-me. I lived in a boarding school where I needed to do things independently. And it would be a lie if I said that my early time in boarding school was easy. It was hard; I cried because I needed to process too many novel things. But, thanks to my friends, my first year in that city finally felt bearable, and I didn't feel lonely.

I was 13 when I knew that I had some people who gave genuine care to me.
It was when my friends shared their laughter and crying with me or when we ran together when the bell had rung, and we hadn't reached the school gate, and the teacher scolded us. It was when we cooked together, shared the meal, had stupid jokes during breakfast, or tried to understand each other when we had different dynamics and personalities. Or It was when me and my friends, with our limited money, tried so hard to watch movies together and had a cheap meal so we could make it for the next month. It's funny to think about those things now — how the junior high school version of us did those cute things. Yes, I find them cute.

My friends have shown me that I always have my people, where I can lean my shoulder, where I can be myself, and where they'll always support me. They accept me with all of my sides — the silly side, the weird side, the sensitive side, the negative side, and the bright side of me, and what I like the most is that we're growing together to get a better version of ourselves. I can say we're growing, as humans, as a person with each path, we're getting better at understanding each other, and we finally got our bachelor's degree — in different uni, different cities, and we're still keeping everything. We're growing to see each of us as a person — me as Aida with every inch of my insecurities and dreams, just like how I see each of them.

My friends presented me that although we first met when we weren't adults yet, what we had, what I felt about them was — and is authentic.
My friends and I live in different cities now, and we're busy with our stuff. The girls I knew in junior and high school are now adults. They're not students anymore; they're a mom, a wife, a pharmacist, a teacher, and extraordinary employees, and they're still my precious best friends. Despite the long distance we have, we can still share warm greetings; they still are the ones who supported me when I was down and had my days fallen apart. And I'm still one of those they'll call when life gets hard.

I am 26 when I write this, and I can say that my friends have shown me more kindness than a romantic partner experience I had. It's not that I think that a romantic partner isn't essential; for me, friendship is just as important and precious as romantic things.
I think friendship has its spectrum of love.
It might be different from romantic love, but still, I can say that there's this kind of love in friendship. This kind of love that I'll cherish forever.
It's love when your friend texts you, "How are you? Feel free to talk to me if you have anything to talk about, okay?"
It's love when your friend gives their time to call you or listen to your problems.
It's love when your friend says "I think you'll like this" while showing you some stuff because they remember you.
It's love when your friend reaches out after reading one of your tweets showing you're having a bad day. It's love only by the text "Hey, are you okay?"
It's love when your friend says, "I'm in this town now. If you're free, maybe we can meet?"

And by writing this, I'll convey my gratitude to those who have been supporting me, the ones I can comfortably show my silly side. The ones who trust me to share their vulnerable sides with me, the ones who make me realize that life is bearable because we have each other. And I'll cherish them — the ones that are very dear to me.