Song for a Friend

An important life lesson I always re-learn while being home?  People grow apart...and it sucks.  Priorities reorder, values waver, and people change.  Cliche?  Maybe.  But I think many of us deny it and hold onto what was, not what is.  Of course, this doesn't devalue the friendship nor does it erase all the memories.  But I think it's only adult of us to realize and accept that the person you once knew may not be the same person.  And that's okay...which brings me to this idea of a best friend.  

You know, like in Grey's Anatomy when Meredith calls Christina 

"my person."

I've always been curious, jealous really, of those who have that ONE best friend.  I always think, it must be nice to have that one person you can go straight to, who you can rant to, cry on, discuss anything with.  You can have several of these friends, but it must be easy, even convenient, to know you can speed dial this one person, who probably knows most of your life story.

I just got home from dinner with lifelong friends...literally.  I've known Sarah since pre-school; as in, we've been friends since we were three, and we haven't grown apart since.  Sure, we attended different schools as soon as I moved from Eagle Rock to San Marino.  And sure, she stayed in Cali for college while I ventured out to Pennsylvania.  Yet after knowing each other for more than 18 years, we still get together with our families and pick up right where we left off.  No, Sarah and I don't Skype, text, or Facebok chat everyday.  Does that mean we're not best friends?

What does best friend even mean?  Are we supposed to save this term of endearment for that one person who you can tell all your little secrets to?    It's not as big as I love you, but maybe I do throw it around a bit too much.  Or maybe I just trust a lot of people and feel that I can be open with them.  But then again, who really knows that much about one person? 

I know that friends like Sarah are rare.  There are few that know where I come from, who I've been, and who I've become.  And perhaps that's the advantage of all the years knowing each other.  But it's these lifelong friends that stick by you.  And it comforts me knowing that I have friends who I don't have to talk to every free moment who will be there for me when I need them most.

People say that you make your friends for life in college.  If that's a case, I consider myself pretty lucky.  I've definitely made great friends at Nova, but I also have lifelong friends already here at home.  So maybe I have the best of both worlds.

I'm done with labels, really.  All I know is that I am thankful that you, yes YOU, are in my life, impacting it in whatever way you're supposed to.  Acquaintance, friend, close friend, best friend?  Who cares. 

I'm a person.  You're a person.  Let's just be real.

Life is good in purple and gold.  Merry Christmas Eve everyone.

No More Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

My college degree is done.  No, I didn't plan it that way, but I guess that's what happens when I overload every semester at a school I love.  So I'm taking two classes next semester to maintain my student status and stay involved in all my activities.  Yes, my friends from home: I have not changed one bit.

So, once I return to Villanova, what am I going to do with all this free time?

I figured...do all the things I've wanted, but never had the time, or made the time, to do.  And one of those things is to WRITE.  I remember my middle school days.  Not clearly, but I remember I always made it a point to get onto that MySpace and write.  Exactly what I was feeling.  And it was always such a cool and ego-boosting feeling when people asked me to write more.

So here I am.  A college senior, coming up on her final months as a 21 year old.  We've all heard your years in college are supposed to be the formative years, the years you get to find out what you value, who you value, what drives you...and figure out who the hell you are.  So, why not write at one of the most life-changing points in life...when your comfortable bubble slowly transforms into real life, and real life means doing, thinking, and living all on your own.

Too often, we wait...for someone to respond, for the opportunity to arise, for the right timing.  But there are so many things I want to do, to try, to accomplish...and we only have so much time.  So what the heck am I waiting for?

I'd say I'm finally jumping on the blogging bandwagon, but I'm not.  I remember those 8th grade days when I thought someone broke my heart, or a friend betrayed me, or life was just getting confusing (ah yes, the purity of adolescence)...and I used words to help me figure it out.  Or at least make me feel better.  And it worked.

Sure, I'm a verbal communicator.  I want to be a broadcast journalist and interview people, no matter how big or small, so I can share their stories.  But there's just something about communicating with the written word.  As if you're setting something in stone, and even if you feel different about something later, you have evidence that you simply cannot erase. 

So, here's to me going back to my old ways, to a time when I actually had time to write, to perhaps share a little piece of me that I usually don't have the chance to share.

The next couple of months are going to be some unforgettable ones, and if not for the blogging world, this is for me to remember and bask in the times when I thought anything was possible.  

So what will I be sharing with you?
My love for food?  I should share all the pictures I take of food anyway.
My love for the Lakers?  I love them too much to not talk about them.
My love for Villanova?  Especially since it's my last semester, might as well.
Or perhaps, my love for life?

Wherever this blog is going to take me, I'm ready for it.

Life is good in purple and gold.