Wrote this for English class the other day. The topic was supposed to be a story about something we regret. It's not exactly a story, but it will do.

It’s true what people say: You really don’t know what you have until it’s gone. In my case, I had no idea how strong my friendships were until it was too late. Looking back, I wish I had made the most of the time I had with them. I regret rushing through the days I had with them. Now that I don’t have them, I truly realize how much they meant and still mean to me.

I came to this realization when I recently moved from a very small town where everybody knew each other and secrets didn’t stay secret. I hated that town. I went to a small private school where nobody ever left and nobody new ever came. I felt stuck. To be honest, I was depressed and lonely.

Sure, I had friends. They were the same people I had known since I had started attending in pre-school. I always knew I loved my friends. We would get in occasional inconsequential fights, but that was expected. You fight with your best friends just like you fight with your siblings or your parents, and that’s what my friends were to me – family. I never worked as hard to hold onto someone’s love as I did to gain it.

However, I wasn’t happy. There was a total of twenty-five people in my entire eighth grade. I felt like it was constricting. I figured if there were more people, I would be able to pick and choose my friends, therefore creating better friendships. I wanted more. I wanted a change. I wanted to move.

You can only imagine my excitement when my parents told me in November of last year that moving would be a possibility in the summer. I waited months for summer to come. The days flew by just like I wanted them to. During the last few months before the move, I began to work to strengthen all of my relationships. I had selfish intentions. I wanted people to remember me in a positive way, for them to miss me when I was gone. This plan backfired.

I regarded moving as the answer to all of my problems. I had deluded myself into thinking I would be instantly happy. That’s why the disappointment hit me so hard when August came and I didn’t see the same people I had grown up with. Something in me still expected those old friends on the first day of school. I can’t describe my disappointment.

I was still lonely, only this time, I didn’t have friends to console me. I longed for the little things I took for granted before. I missed Daniel’s advice, Inglis’s stories, Wilson’s music rants, Clint’s jokes, and even Danielle’s gossip. I found that I missed those hilarious conversations at lunch, awkward moments in Gym, and of course those random notes during class.

You would be surprised how meaningful of a bond you can form with people you’ve been forced to be around. Having twenty-five people in my grade wasn’t a limitation; it was a family. It ensured that I would talk to people I normally wouldn’t have picked out of a crowd.

I don’t regret moving. If I had to make the decision again, I would still choose to move. I only wish that I had enjoyed the time I had with my friends. I threw it away and took it for granted. I became obsessed with having more. In that obsession, I lost sight of what I had.

I plan on always staying in touch with those twenty-five people. They’ll always be in my heart, even if my appreciation for them in my life came too late. All I ask of you is to remember that the grass isn’t always greener. You should be grateful for the grass wherever you are.