To The Friend Who Made This Pandemic A Little Less Exhausting,

2020 was the most unexpected & twisted year for all of us, & it brought along with it a whole bunch of surprising twists. The greatest one of those was my friendship that grew with you.

From simple insta story replies, we escalated to frequent "How boring was your day?", "Did you do the vessels today?" , "Watch this movie, read this book, let's play another round of Ludo" & whatnot. These few moments with you gave me something to look forward to even when every single day was a drag, making this lock-down suck a little less, & making me love you a little more. My mind would wander to thoughts of how great it would've been if we'd connected this much in person when we had the chance.

My friendship with you taught me that sometimes the best people in life will be far away, & all you can do is power through the distance to celebrate the bond that you share. It taught me patience & gratitude because, amidst a sea of chaos every day, the few fun moments we shared together will be etched in my memory forever. If it wasn't for you, this pandemic wouldn't be half as tolerable as you made it with your presence.

I don't know when or if I'll see you again anytime soon, & a part of me breaks at the mere thought of not having a wonderful person like you around me right now. But until then, I hope that our saga of sharing memes, bitching about online classes, fawning over desserts & street junk & tons of series & movie recommendations with memories full of laughter & joy never ceases because I've gotta be honest, my life in 2020 would suck a lot more without you in it.

With love,

Your pandemic buddy.

Aashvi Shah