Reminiscing some more
Apparently it takes a second reading for me to fully appreciate my friendships. I took a little excursion into one of my shoeboxes the other night to check out the letters from that friend I mentioned a couple posts back. I thought I only had one, to be honest, but there were a handful in there dating mostly from that time after she'd married and I'd moved on to college. To be sure, changes like that can make one a tad maudlin (they do me), but still those letters were just awesome, humbling and touching. Did I deserve those words? What did I do to deserve them?
We spent a lot of time talking, having those "no one's ever, ever been through this before!" conversations that teenagers are apt to have. We spent some time sharing music and piano. This was around the time I bought my first piano and really got into my music. It was pretty, sentimental instrumental stuff that no one else liked so it was really nice to be able to share that. There were after school walks around the track and weekend rollerblading through the hallways. There were Science Club meetings and a mutual inclination toward such geeky stuff. I think we both really enjoyed literature. She enjoyed my writing and I enjoyed having an audience. I knew her softer side and she knew my playful one. Good stuff.
As I waded through my shoeboxes I found a still-sealed letter addressed to her from 12/96 that was "returned to sender." That was right around the time a particularly tough period in my life started so I kind of dreaded opening the letter, but I was curious. It turned out to be quite a time capsule. Hint: it featured words like "marriage," "baptism," "Yale" and "law school."
And then I dug into the bottom of one of my boxes and found an old pair of jeans I used to wear in high school. Those who knew me then would be surprised to know that I didn't really own a pair of jeans from about 1998-2004. Well, you just know I had to try them on to see if they still fit! They do, they look just fine and I'm wearing them today with my favorite boots.
This has been a good reminiscing--a little bittersweet concerning "marriage" and "Yale," but it's been so very, very nice to recall a dear friend from another time and place.
(And Dear Friend, anonymous as you are, I'm glad to redact this post if you'd rather me not share these details. I think they're pretty innocuous (and no other kind exist!) so I've taken the liberty of posting first, asking second. I hope that's all right. (Like my nested parentheses?!))
We spent a lot of time talking, having those "no one's ever, ever been through this before!" conversations that teenagers are apt to have. We spent some time sharing music and piano. This was around the time I bought my first piano and really got into my music. It was pretty, sentimental instrumental stuff that no one else liked so it was really nice to be able to share that. There were after school walks around the track and weekend rollerblading through the hallways. There were Science Club meetings and a mutual inclination toward such geeky stuff. I think we both really enjoyed literature. She enjoyed my writing and I enjoyed having an audience. I knew her softer side and she knew my playful one. Good stuff.
As I waded through my shoeboxes I found a still-sealed letter addressed to her from 12/96 that was "returned to sender." That was right around the time a particularly tough period in my life started so I kind of dreaded opening the letter, but I was curious. It turned out to be quite a time capsule. Hint: it featured words like "marriage," "baptism," "Yale" and "law school."
And then I dug into the bottom of one of my boxes and found an old pair of jeans I used to wear in high school. Those who knew me then would be surprised to know that I didn't really own a pair of jeans from about 1998-2004. Well, you just know I had to try them on to see if they still fit! They do, they look just fine and I'm wearing them today with my favorite boots.
This has been a good reminiscing--a little bittersweet concerning "marriage" and "Yale," but it's been so very, very nice to recall a dear friend from another time and place.
(And Dear Friend, anonymous as you are, I'm glad to redact this post if you'd rather me not share these details. I think they're pretty innocuous (and no other kind exist!) so I've taken the liberty of posting first, asking second. I hope that's all right. (Like my nested parentheses?!))
posted by anchovy @ 12:24 PM
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