Dear Catariya,
Today is your 26th birthday (happy birthday!!) and in a way, it also marks our 10 year anniversary as friends.
I will never forget the day I asked about your last name and it turned out that your cousin was my first love.
It took me 2½ years to get over him and despite the fact that I might still be slightly messed up because of how things ended with him, I look back and see how that extreme heartbreak was necessary because it led me to one of the biggest loves of my life – you.
We haven’t always seen eye to eye on things in the past, like the whole Neil / Dave situation / soap opera that happened in high school…
But despite our differences and despite both of us being incredibly stubborn, we managed to find our way back to each other and we had a lot of fun during that whole process.
We went to Prague, not once, but twice!
(as you can see there – neil / dave / neil / dave haha)
We spent a lot of our time studying at fiket and generally having a typical teenage high school life with parties like IB awards (I love how you still wear that red lipstick!)
Prom nights at the Hilton
And crazy trips going skiing in the alps, mini breaks in London and graduation party holiday in Barcelona
You were the one who convinced me to move to London in 2005 and not take a gap year. I will never forget arriving at Kings Cross and walking around the corner by Scala to catch a cab.
I’m scared to think about how my life would have turned out if you wouldn’t have given me courage and that extra push I needed to move here and follow my dreams.
The three years we spent at university were pretty strange and we kind of drifted apart, even though we met up once in a while.
Remember making sushi in my disgusting & tiny halls of residence and getting absolutely TRASHED at the bar we had there on like Martini and £1 shots in the bar?
I was always a bit jealous of the new friends that you made during our uni years. Not because I wasn’t making friends, but because it felt like they completely stole you away from me. And even though I made new friends, none were ever as good as you & the IB crew…
I’m sure you have lots of great memories from your uni years, I found this picture of you from one of your uni parties (not sure when it was or where, but its the only one I have of you that I didn’t take).
I will never forget the drunken argument we had at Cargo when Ina was visiting us. You know… that time when all my frustration and anger and sadness about us and our friendship just came out.
I think that was a turning point in our friendship because you made me a promise that night that you would change and try to be a better friend, and you really kept that promise ever since.
So we both started making more efforts to see each other and do things together.
Like that one day festival we went to in Finsbury Park
Uni graduation celebrations
Eurovision nights
Birthdays (yours and mine)
Random Fika catch ups or drinks or meals whenever we could fit it in
Not to mention the fantastic BBQs at Russell Avenue
We’ve survived several awkward boy incidents, totally fucked up living incidents with insane landlords and flats burning down, stressful job situations, tight budget and no money periods, depression, illness, loneliness – you name it, we did it and we made it!
We even survived a damn half marathon together!!
I can’t thank you enough for being my friend because I know that I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for you.
It hasn’t always been easy for us, but our friendship has been tested and survived so many things during these past 10 years.
It has grown, evolved and matured, and I know with confidence and love that no matter what happens in my life, you will be there for me, just like I will be there for you.
So a big happy birthday again on your very special day!
I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you as my best friend.
Åh vad fint skrivet älskling! Jag fick också tårar i ögonen haha! <3 Så mkt kärlek! Ni är så så fina!!!
This is the nicest thing ever
Åh älskling! Jag sitter och storgråter nu ju! Vad jag älskar dig :) Allt vi har gått igenom tillsammans (och inte tillsammans) har gjort oss de människor vi är idag, och bättre vän än dig går nog inte att hitta.
Jag satt och pratade med Martins mamma förra helgen när vi var ute på middag och hon sa likadant att hon är så tacksam och lycklig över att vi har hållit ihop och växt upp tillsammans så länge.
Jag vet att vi alltid kommer att finnas för varandra vare sig vi bor ihop, bor grannar, i samma stad, samma land eller hundratals mil från varandra. Du och ‘gänget’ har en plats i hjärtat som ingenting kan ersätta!
Vi ses snart söt, om inte i London innan jul så hemma i Malmö sen.
<3 <3 <3