Dear Sackie,
The first time I heard you crack a joke and laugh so freely, I knew—you were the kind of friend who understood my humor.
Long before we met, people used to tell me I laughed too loudly, that I was too much, too overstimulated, too everything.
But with you, I never felt like I had to shrink.
With you, I am simply myself—free to be who I am, without apology.
Some of my most treasured memories with you are filled with laughter, but we’ve also shared the quiet weight of difficult days—the silly, the goofy, the tearful, and the anxious moments in between.
You saw me for who I am.
You gave me space when I needed to retreat, when I turned the lights off and chose solitude. You never pressured me to show up when I couldn’t—and yet, you always knew I was there for you in the ways that mattered.
We’ve walked through so much together—celebrating victories and surviving challenges side by side. From passing the battery exams in our freshman year, to barely making it through Biochemistry and the chaos of Parasitology, to enduring the long stretch of online classes during the pandemic, to finally stepping into hospital internships, graduating, passing the licensure exam, and finding our place in the working world.
Through it all, we kept going.
And I will always root for you.
I pray that you make it to medical school—that you push through the sleepless nights and the pressure, that you become the doctor you’ve always dreamed of being. I hope you find a love that is steady, kind, and lasting.
We may only see each other once in a while—and maybe even less when life gets busier.
But honestly, who cares?
Eight years of friendship has already proven what we are to each other. What can distance do, when we’re both chasing the lives we’ve always dreamed of?
You once dreamed with me—helping me imagine my book covers, believing in the stories I wanted to tell.
Maybe our plans will shift. Maybe life will rewrite some of our paths.
But what truly matters is this: that we grow into the people we’ve always hoped to become.
I’ve seen you in your highest highs and your lowest lows—and you’ve seen mine. And still, we stayed.
I can already picture it—us, somewhere in the world, maybe walking near the Eiffel Tower, laughing the same way we always have, living lives we once only dreamed of.
By then, you’ll have found a love that stays. And I will have found mine too.
Until then, we keep going.
Here’s to the lives we’re building, the dreams we’re chasing, and the friendship that never lets go.
I love you, always.
All my love,
Joy