take a little peek: one is silver and the other gold.

"Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other gold."

Four years ago a group of girlfriends sat around a table saying their goodbyes. They wondered what would happen in this next part of life; what would change; what would stay the same. The ultimate question: In four more years would we all be friends?

My name is P.K. Reilly. I grew up in a small Virginia town, where I lived the average American childhood. Growing up, I never remember having "best friends" until I got to junior high. This is were I met a variety of girls I so proudly called my best friends. Over three years we grew extremely close, we even coined ourselves as "The BMS Ladies" (our middle school was called Battlefield Middle). We had crazy sleep overs, a yearly secret santa, and tons of risky (and possibly illegal) adventures.

When high school came we all got split up. Boy, was that an identity crisis. We managed to have our annual secret santa. But, the crazy adventures, and weekly sleep overs diminished over the next four years. We all made new groups of friends, and were content in our teenage lives.

When graduation came I wondered how much longer our friendships would last? Would our sisterly ties keep fading like they had done the past four years? Again, we were all headed in different paths.

When I got to college I became part of the university's dance team. I spent every waking moment with these girls, and they became my family. I rarely talked to my BMS girls any more, even though one of them was my roomate. I was so caught up in the college lifestyle that I didn't take time to revisit my past. When I would go home for breaks, our get-togethers weren't the same. I had lost touch with the girls who I used to know so well. This went on for the next two years of college until I decided not to dance my junior year.

Once again I was in a major identity crisis. My dance family was always at practice and always together. Because I wasn't with them all the time I missed out on a lot, and our friendships started to change. I hated myself for excluding my close ties from home. It was then that I realized how selfish I had been over the past two years. I decided to take the time and make amends with the girls I once called my best friends.

As a Senior about to graduate I have thankfully learned how to balance friendships. It doesn't matter how many groups of friends you have, you can have five groups of best friends if you want! You just have to take the time to care for your friendships!!! I am so thankful to have this group of ladies back in my life. With another graduation steadily approaching, I am confident that we will be friends for life. Work hard to keep the ones you love close. Friends like these will bring you joy, laughter, and most importantly love.

Below our some photos we have taken over the years. (Ladies, don't kill me for posting these. haha.)