Spent the day with my best friend from my teen years. If you want, you can read about it on Retro-Spective, with photos (but not of us; I don't post pics of people). We went on a nostalgia tour. Wendy and I renewed our friendship a couple of years ago after a 25-year break. When I was growing up, I thought someday I'd be an adult and magically, I'd become a different person. I was disappointed to reach my 20s only to discover I was still me. But one day recently, it hit me that I wasn't the kid who was so unsure of herself back then. I really had become, albeit gradually, a different person. I'm not the person Wendy was best friends with, and she's different, too.
Back then, we needed each other the way only social misfits could need a friend. Today, I have friends, including the bestest best bud a gal could ever want, and it's nice looking at Wendy and knowing that whatever friendship we have will be whatever develops naturally. It won't be forced or by default. I like how that feels. But there's definitely something great about having someone you can say, "Remember when (fill in the blank)" and you can relive old times with someone who was there. J, my best bud, and I go back 20 years, but the memories Wendy and I share go back to the fall of 1966 when we sat next to each other in 9th grade (you do the math).
Wonderful entry Shelly. I can completely relate to what you are saying and how you are feeling. So many friends come in and out of our lives and for the most part it was all worth it. They were part of our evolution.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chelly. That's exactly it. I really feel that I had the friends I had when I needed them at various points in my life. They each helped me reach the next step. I don't want to go backward, and it remains to be seen if Wendy will be part of going forward, since she knows it can't be what it was because there are other people in my life now.
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