Five-Year Reflection

I'm ashamed...I broke my deadline. When I first began writing I made a pact with myself to post once a week, typically Tuesdays, but I succumbed to the holidays over the past two weeks. And I don't regret that! I love Christmas time at home. Lots of dark chocolate, pumpkin bread, and brunch. It's certainly not my most healthy time of year but you can't celebrate a plump, rosy-nosed man visiting all the houses in the WORLD in one night without indulging in some treats. I do miss the days of Santa. I'll always remember the moment the truth came crashing down on me. My sister and her friend told me Santa wasn't real but I refused to believe it. Instead, my friend Lindsay and I deduced a plan to compare Santa's handwritten letters in response to those we left for him on Christmas Eve. The ending of this story won't be much of a shock: the handwriting wasn't the same. The world as we knew it was ruined. Who doesn't want to believe a stranger falls down our chimneys one night a year?

On Saturday, I attended my five-year high school reunion. So many fun and interesting people to catch up/cut a rug with. My dear friend and biggest blog fan Mara, gave me the idea of a "five-year reflection" piece. She's brilliant. It aligns perfectly. So I'm sitting here thinking back to 2009. I had spent two weeks in Panama that summer after graduating high school, sleeping in hammocks in bamboo huts among the Kuna tribe, camping on a deserted island, and weathering a tropical storm. When August rolled around and I had to say goodbye to my favorite people I grew up with, I felt this fear that I hadn't experienced before. I had lived a very comfortable, happy life in Concord through my childhood and adolescence. Then suddenly there is this huge switch you're expected to slide right into. I was miserable for the 12-hour drive to Virginia and spent the first night in my dorm room crying and pleading for my parents to turn around and pick me up. By the end of the week, I didn't ever want to go home.

By this time five years ago, I had finished my first semester of college and spent New Year's Eve talking about Spring rush and getting so excited to join a sorority. As a freshman, everything is so enticing and overwhelming. As I continued to adjust to the college setting, I realized I felt more grounded as an independent than a member of a sorority. Ironically enough, every single one of my friends joined a sorority and I was left to my own devices. But guess what? It all worked out. I remained in strong friendships with them and also grew to find solace in the time I had to myself to focus on the work I felt passionately about. Although that didn't start until Sophomore year.

Summer after freshman year I'm pretty sure I wasted away laying in my backyard ruining my skin for my future self. Then we officially moved out of my childhood home...to a rental one street over. I visited my boyfriend's family in Pennsylvania for the first time. Went in for the handshake with his grandfather while he went in for the hug and was called a Menonite. Trey also visited my family that summer for the first time, walking in the house to meet my mother while I walked out of the bathroom in a towel, most likely embarassing all parties. Spent Fourth of July on Cape Cod with my friends Sophie and Ida. I essentially experienced my last summer with zero responsibilities.

I won't delve into the details of each passing year, but reflecting on them puts into perspective just how much has changed in a short period of time. Or maybe five years is a long period of time, depends how you look at it. The changes that come about in the next five years will be even crazier. And then I'll find myself back in Boston for our 10-year high school reunion, but I don't have a clue as to where I'll be or what I'll be doing. So cheers to 2014 passing and to a promising 2015!

Also, I've seen two shooting stars in the past week so I'd like to think that's a good sign.

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