I think about you often.
I think about us.
I think about how much we’ve all changed.
I think about how much time has passed since we last saw each other.
I think about all of the things we have all accomplished.
I think about whether or not you think about me.
I just turned 25 and that makes me feel incredibly reflective. I’ve done a lot of things in my life and as I look back, I genuinely could have never predicted that I would be where I am right now. I think back on how I did get here and I wouldn’t be the person I am without the people who I spent every waking moment with growing up. “They say” that the people you meet in high school are the people you’re friends with for the rest of your life. Unfortunately, life takes over and this can’t always be true, it happened to me. It happened to us. Part of that was due to the fact that we truly are all so different. We all went in completely different directions after we graduated, most of us going out of state.
It’s easy that first year of college. You Skype regularly. You text each other about your new classes. You come home for Thanksgiving and for Christmas and New Years Eve. You plan parties or sleepovers and share all of the stories, good and bad, from that first semester. You laugh and get drunk for the first time together. It’s so easy to pick up where you left off and it’s like you never left in the first place. Visits get planned and Facebook wall posts provide constant awareness that you’re still present in each other’s lives.
It’s the second year that things noticeably change. You begin to focus more on choosing a major, finding a job, being with a significant other, making new friends, exploring new cities, joining clubs and societies, and generally evolving into someone you might not have been in high school. There’s nothing wrong with this, but you start to realize that all of the people you were once so close with, are harder to relate to now. How can you? When your life map went left, theirs went right or up or down.
I guess I just always thought that we would be friends. I wanted so badly for nothing to change, but our lives changed. We changed. I changed.
Sometimes I wonder where I would be if I had taken a different path. I think like Mindy Kaling, “Is Everyone Hanging out Without me? : (and Other Concerns)”. I wonder if I had stayed closer to home, would things have stayed the same for me? Would our friendships still be in tact? It’s hard after awhile, to maintain a friendship, especially when so much as evolved. We aren’t the same people we were back then.
Some of us still are friends. Some of us took similar paths. Some of us continue to pick up where we left off, no matter how much time has passed. For this, I am grateful.
As much as I wonder about these things, I am happy. I’m living a random, unexpected life that I love. I’ve met people who have opened my eyes to the world, and people who make me feel confident and understood. I may not have it all together like I should, but I’m okay.
Even so, I always think about you. I will never forget you. Pieces of me will always be connected to you. I know that we are different now, but I never stopped caring. I never stopped wanting to know where you are, how you are, what you are doing.
I rely on social media to keep up with your lives. Your lives will always be important to me and I will always be happy to see you.
I am proud of all of us.
Some of us have traveled to various parts of the globe. Some of us have gone on to “big kid” jobs. Some of us have gone back to school. Some of us earned a degree, maybe even two. Some of us entered the Peace Corps. Some of us studied or worked abroad. Some of us explored new types of relationships. Some of us are in new relationships. Some of us live with significant others. Some of us are engaged. Some of us are married. Some of us have children. Some of us live out of state. Some of us are still finding ourselves.
Whatever we are doing, we are all on our way.
I feel lucky to know all of you and feel grateful to have had so many life-changing moments with you.
A lot of the stories I tell and the stories that have yet to be written, stem from memories with all of you. You all have genuinely shaped my life, and I couldn’t have made it through those high school years without you.
This might be cheesy, but that’s me.
I just want to say thank you.
Thank you for all of the slumber parties, nights in each other’s basements simply goofing around, the pool parties, impulse Wal-Mart buys, softball games, campouts, snow forts, movie marathons, canoe trips, Halo Sunday Nights, game nights, long drives, dance parties, road trips, summer camp hangs, dinner parties, unfortunate photos, fireworks, bonfires, snuggles, first kisses, talent shows, karaoke, school dances, birthdays, hospital trips, college visits, sharing the same lunch table everyday, meeting at the same spot in the morning before class, baking, school functions, nights out, costumes, trampolining, football games, hugs, fights, videos, memories, support, confidence, and so much laughter.
Thank you for being in my life; in the past, in the present, and in the future.
I hope to see you at our ten year reunion. I can’t wait to take a trip down memory lane.
Whatever you do next and wherever you go, I wish you nothing but the very best.
If we’re ever in the same place at the same time again, you should still know my garage code. Meet you in the kitchen.
xoxo Kal
Life? So far, so good.
So far, so good. 