Reminders

Today, I received a wonderful surprise.

One of my closest friends from back home came to visit me. She has a new boyfriend, who happens to go to school with me, along with his younger sister. So, she accompanied him on a trip up here. She got a chance to see my apartment and see the school and spend some time in the area. It was a nice change from me having to drive all the way home to hold ties with my friends and my life there.

We just talked and reminisced about things that we'd done and friends that we'd had. We gossiped about people and talked about our future. Her boyfriend was with us, so of course, they had their couple moments, talking about stuff with which I wasn't familiar, but it was okay. It was nice to just talk and catch up.

We went to dinner and I got a chance to talk to her boyfriend for a little bit, about our degrees and things. Nothing too ground breaking, but we got a long. It was cool to see her with someone that I could see in our friend group and I was happy for her. We bonded over a prank when she was off to the bathroom - moved all our stuff so it would look like we'd left her there. It was fun.

It was interesting, after I'd spend so much time here on my own and going back to Howell to reconnect, to have her here, in my new life, with a guy who could easily be a part of it. It was like..it was meant for us to stay friends. Although I've changed a lot since I've moved away, and I have different views, different friends, and different stories, I could still talk and share and connect with her. We still had things to talk about.

It was a nice refresher. After I'd gone home a few weeks ago, I felt so disconnected from my life there, it was weird. I wanted so much to come back here and be with my new friends and be a part of my new life. It just didn't feel right, and it worried me. I didn't want to let go of home yet. I didn't want to be the one who left and who changed and disappeared. It was weird. But knowing that we can still talk and visit was a good reminder that I haven't changed so much that I have to let everything go. The way we visited today..it was on a different, more mature, adult level. It wasn't getting together to hang or party, it was a touch base so that we know we are still friends and that we still care and that we will be in touch forever. And it was nice.

I just think we get so caught up in moving on and moving forward that we forget to look back and remember who we are. Sometimes we need life's little reminders.