We, Patty and I, had been best friends since Grade Four. Just about everywhere we went, people we were best friends. We secrets about popcorn（爆米花）and soda year after year. The best part about having a best friend was taking sleeping over on Friday nights. Then in Grade Eight everything changed. Suddenly, my interest in make-up and clothes my mom. I believe Patty started the first day of school the same pigtails（辫子）she had worn forever. What was happening? Other girls seemed more than Patty. I started avoiding her and making excuses. , during the middle of the year, as we were sitting in the backyard, the broke out. I said, “Go home, Patty, and don’t come back.” Then I ran into the house crying. Mom sat me down and I told her. I’ll never forget her words. She said, “ will come and go in and out of your life forever. You are and it’s okay for both of you to make new friends. is happening is hard but perfectly .” Time healed（治愈）a lot of the , and over the next few years we clearly walked along paths. Still, when I saw her in the halls of high school, I 5 a strange sadness. I thought if I went back and “fixed” everything between us, we could somehow start all over friends. But that was a fantasy（幻想）. Our differences were too great, and I could only she understood. I’ll always remember the years when Patty and I were best friend, but Mom was right. can change, and we have to let them go when it’s time.