an epiphany of sorts

“Things do not change; we change.” ~Henry David Thoreau

Being grown up
Isn’t half as fun as growing up
These are the best days of our lives
~ The Ataris, “In This Diary”

I suppose it never really occurred to me, that the people that I was close friends with in high school might have other friends that they would become closer to after I left. Perhaps even closer to the new friends than they were to me. I suppose I thought that our tiny little circle of 8 people, while it would expand so that we wouldn’t be lonely when the others weren’t around, would ultimately come back to us. Just us. The best of friends. The friends that you put above everything and everyone else. Even if we could only find one day out of an entire summer that could put us all in the same place at the same time. Those of us that graduated last year still do, for the most part, live up to those expectations that I’d had. But those that we left behind, still in high school, or just having graduated…

The bonds that we, the first of us to graduate, formed were in large part due to going through similar experiences at the same time. Senior year, graduation, college. Likewise, those that we left behind would have felt the need to have a similar comradarie. They no longer really had us. We were off doing our own thing at college. So their bonds with the people that were going through the same things as them, thus became stronger.

I suppose I’ve just had an epiphany. We’d been planning this day for weeks. And at the last minute (literally) one person decided to schedule something else so he could spend some time with other friends, and cut our other plans short. I got upset, pissed off really. But I realize now, that just as these days were so important to us last year because they were our ‘last days’ before heading off to college for the first time, so are they important to our friends who have just graduated. We are friends, yes. But there is a bond shared between people of the same high school graduating class that is inexplicable. There is something there that we cannot touch. There is something almost sacred.

To my friends:
Banana, JM, Carlin, Chrissy, Ren, Me– UP class of ’04… our last days were awesome. Marathon day last year was a fiasco, but it turned out all right in the end… and Dorney every year is amazing too. Pizza hut. Pinochle. Movie nights. Our traditions. Our memories. Sacred. Untouchable.
Dale– UP class of ’05… I realize you need your own traditions too. We’ve welcomed you into our circle, but I understand now your need for others to share your experiences. Campouts–and whatever the heck else it is you do. I’m sorry for snapping… I guess it’s just hard for me to accept the changes. Enjoy your last few days as a high schooler.