At some point in your life, you’ll meet someone who’ll completely change you. They enter your life, and you’d never know it, but they’ll impact you in ways you could never imagine. Many people assume that this person has to be a romantic partner, and for some people, it may be, but for others, it could be a friend or a stranger on the street. The essence of it is that this person was sent in your life, perhaps for only a short period, but they set your life in motion.

Until I was 13, I’d never met anyone other than adults who inspired me (teachers, coaches, my parents). Until then, I’d been utterly alone. Then I met the person who I think has been one of the most impactful people in my life. This person probably wasn’t the most influential, but they taught me what it meant to love and trust a person more than anything completely. It often takes a while for people to connect with another person, but by the time I graduated high school this person had become family to me, the love that was there was essentially the bond I have with my siblings. It was eternal and unbreakable.

We started college, and as we made new friends and acquaintances, we grew apart, or so I thought. Not seeing this person 24/7 made me feel as if I had lost them, which wasn’t the case, but I didn’t know that. Because of the tension that was there, simple problems that would have normally blown over became exaggerated and blown out of proportion. One argument led to many, and eventually, our friendship did fall apart.

For months, I was broken. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was lost and lonely. Despite managing to convince everyone around me that it didn’t bother me, I couldn’t manage to convince myself the same. I would go through the motions every day, but when I was alone in my bed, I couldn’t. Deep down, I knew what was wrong, but I’d be damned if I admitted that someone had meant that much to me. But they did, and I was truly shattered.

Now, with many heartbreaks, the best remedy is to pretend it doesn’t bother you and busy yourself with countless other tasks, to the point where you have no time to worry about what may be hurting you. Both being incredibly stubborn, we refused to swallow our pride. Life was fine (well, as fine as it could be when you cry yourself to sleep once a week). Then, one Friday afternoon, on my way home from hanging out with a group of friends, I ran into them. In the metro of all places. I was just standing there. I don’t know if I believe in destiny or coincidence, but I’ve replayed countless times how many decisions I went back on that afternoon that led me to be in that exact spot at that same time. Who knows, maybe it would have happened another time in another place, but I don’t know. All I know is that I was in the perfect place at the perfect time, and so were they.

A friend once told me that there cannot be any pride in friendship, sometimes you have to suck it up if you want things to get better. So that is precisely what I did. I sucked up the ego and pain, and everything that had held me back from reaching out, and I told them, essentially, that my friendship with them was way more important than my ego, and that I wanted to fix it. In the end, we agreed that being apart was painful for us both, and we decided to move forward. Which, in the end, proved that we are eternal and unbreakable.