Last week the woman who was key to my survival through junior high/high school sent me a birthday card. She enclosed an incredible gift: pictures from when we were girls. Some memories were clear, some were fuzzy, and some completely eluded me.
I like connecting the old to the new, the young to the old, and the past with the present. I think that's one reason I like being back in Tucson. The streets are familiar, the mountains have scarcely changed, but Tucson has also grown quite a bit and some parts are barely recognizable. So, what about me? Am I familiar -- scarcely changed -- barely recognizable?
Tomorrow I am getting my hair cut. Going to the same stylist who cut my hair 11 years ago. I'm betting he'll say I look exactly the same, but that won't be true. I look 11 years older, but am easily recognizable to anyone who's known me since high school. I wonder if I'm the same on the inside too? Couldn't I please, please be a wiser version of myself …
Thank you for NOT posting those pics!
ReplyDeleteWhat a precious gift to have a friend that you still keep in contact with from that part of your life. It sounds like she knew you then, saw you through the growth that happens, and STILL likes who you turned out to be. I feel so different from the person I was then.
ReplyDeleteWe moved A LOT when I was growing up and I don't really have that kind of continuity with a friend from way back then. I wonder how different I would be if I did?
You have given me pause and the desire to look up a friend from 4th through 7th grade... I wonder if she is on Face Book? She wasn't the last time I looked... I might have to employ Shawn's investigative skills to locate her (or at least her parents whom I believe still live in the same house in Littleton, CO)