My best friend, Lizzie, moved from Chicago to Alabama when we were 12. We have stayed best friends in all the years she's been gone, even through college on opposite sides of the country.
My Dad recently suffered 2 strokes and a brain aneurysm. He is still in the hospital, and today he said his first word to me in over a month. I got home from the hospital today and in the mailbox was a package from Lizzie. Inside it was the key, engraved with the word "STRENGTH". It was her way of reminding me to be strong.
Not only is the key a representation of my Dad's strength in getting through this rough time, but also of the strength of my friendship with Lizzie, and how she has stayed my best friend through all these years of being apart. We have been though so much, and are both only 21 years old. But because of strength we can do anything.
