They say most people only really keep in touch with one, maybe two good friends from high school. Growing up is pretty scary if you ask me.
I was reminded of that by an unexpected visit this weekend. A bunch of my high school friends finally came up to Kingston to celebrate one of their birthdays. They said at last they had an excuse to come trekking three hours out of the GTA.
It was great seeing them again, but it made me think about everyone else I missed back home—everyone else I hadn’t seen since high school. You see, I had this vision about how we would all go our separate ways but somehow always have time to meet up and keep in touch—because that’s what friends do. But I guess over time, well, it becomes really, really hard. And even though I probably have 50 of them on my MSN, I probably only know what’s going on with maybe two of these friends half of the time, and sometimes, not even.
So back to my story. We caught up on all the gossip of who’s doing what and where so-and-so has gone. In reminiscing about the past, I felt like I was sitting in a movie: I could see this sudden change from us running home after school to play StarCraft, to eating dinner over a lavish bottle of Dom Perignon, with a simple black screen interlude and caption, “Three years later.” Mind you, despite the fact that this writer still plays StarCraft, (and not to be overdramatic) it was like there was this veil of maturity masking our inner children. We were all still the same, yet different, and after such a short period of time.
It makes me wonder what I’ll be like a few years from now, and who I’ll still be in touch with from Queen’s. How quickly have I forgotten where I came from and who I spent four years with, playing football at lunch hour, and chilling at bubble tea on Friday nights. I can say those were some of the best times I’ve had, because what you really end up missing are the routine things. But it seems like I’m in a different place now and all of that is years long gone. People are always only an e-mail away, but I guess part of what I get stuck on is not knowing what to say. We now live in different worlds. It’s hard to keep in touch with people when you don’t know how to put things into words. After all, how do I describe 40 straight hours of ball hockey, seeing the sunrise from Goodes, or my chronic obsession with A&P chicken?
I guess for now, I just need to get back in touch with some of those who have mattered most. It would be great to try and catch up with what’s going on before it’s too late. I’m not giving up just yet. And besides, the holidays can’t come soon enough because it’s been too long since we’ve all had time to just kick back, relax, and enjoy some good company, if only for a little while longer.
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