After over a year as a single girl in college, I’ve come to believe, pretty wholeheartedly, that I don’t have a soul mate. 

And if you’re reading this, I am here to tell you that you don’t, either. I hope I didn’t bum you out too much.

That said, I have full belief in the existence of soul mates.  I’m all for them. Have I confused you yet?

Somewhere along the way this year, I decided that the concept of  just one person with the ability to fulfill me wasn’t going to work anymore. I don’t have a soul mate, and neither do you. We have many.

When I think about the people I’m lucky enough to have befriended and grown up with over the last nineteen years, I know it’s correct, cliché as it is, to say that they complete me. The beauty of being single is the opportunity it can provide for so many people to be the ones who fill you up, who make you laugh, who go on adventures with you for the sake of getting out of the house.

So to the soul mates I’ve already found, thank you. Thank you for making me lose track of time in 3AM conversations, for dancing to Justin Timberlake in the living room after we’d studied all night and just couldn’t do it anymore.

Thank you for making blueberry pancakes with me and staying out until the bars close and clarifying which shooting stars were real and which were just satellites. For slowing down to skip rocks and smell the roses.

Thank you for reaching out and being there and not letting me second guess myself. For being vulnerable and real and fearless.  For keeping me safe.

Thank you for running a half marathon with me. For staying awake until 4AM the last night of freshman year because we didn’t want the sun to rise and the good times to end. For making me push to the front of the crowded concert.

Thank you for collecting handfuls of sea glass and eating dark chocolate on the beach. For making long drives home from school feel like a party instead of a chore. For making my cheeks hurt from laughing too hard. For dancing like no one was watching.

Thank you for tucking me in at night because someone’s got to be the mom sometimes. For sending the text you didn’t know I needed right then. For the long walks in the rain, the FaceTimes, the midnight fast food trips, the jokes we forgot almost as quickly as they’re made.

To the soul mates I’ve gotten to meet and to the ones still to come: I’m endlessly grateful. I can’t wait to introduce you all and let the adventures continue. Thanks for making every minute of this short, crazy life count.

-Bridget