People

I am not that old, so I feel kinda weird writing about "things that happen as you get older". But I am also pretty observant, so I can't help but pontificate on occasion. And on this rainy Friday, I guess I am feeling a little bit profound, and the deep thoughts are coming...

It amazes me how people can come in and out of your life so much. And I don't mean the ones that make dramatic entrances and exits, but the ones who just sort of drift due to life circumstances. One day they are there. One day they are a huge part of what you think and do every day. And then, mysteriously, they are gone to another place.

And the thing is, when they are around, you never think that they will someday be gone. You just kind of assume that, regardless of what happens, you will always be a part of each other's lives and will always be in touch. Sometimes you don't even notice the exact moment when they disappear out of your life...you just look back five years later and realize that they are gone.

How can that be? How can someone who seems so important...and may in fact be so important...how can you let them just drift away? Were they never as important as you thought? Or maybe they were important for one reason or another then, but later their relevance ebbed.

And then when you see them again someday, it is sort of weird to think about how big a piece of you that person used to be. You used to know everything about them...what they were thinking and doing at all times, what made them happy, what made them cry at night, what they hoped and dreamed for. And to look at them now as a semi-stranger, but to be reminded of the bond you once had...it is almost like looking back through time into a little window of yourself. From long ago. From a different place and time.

But all the things about that person that you loved, they are still there. Maybe older, maybe wiser, maybe just a little different...but it is the same person. And you stop and ask, how did I ever let myself grow so far away? Where did I go wrong, and how much have I missed by losing this person? And you wonder...

So, for no reason at all, I am issuing the following blog activity. Sometime this weekend, find that person that you lost. It could be the girl you met in English class sophomore year. Or the guy you played soccer with in college. Or that you worked with during the summer before your Junior year. Or an old neighbor. Or friends from high school. Or elementary school.

It won't be that hard...someone you know has a phone number, or an email address or something. A little digging should turn them up pretty quickly. And then call, just to say Hi. Find out where they are, where they have been, and what they have been doing.

Maybe nothing will come of it. Maybe they live far away with their own life. But maybe they live nearby. And maybe they want to meet for a drink. And maybe you still have all the things in common that you once did. And maybe you will be friends again, or maybe not. Time is a funny thing, but it doesn't always change people so irreparably.

So, do yourself a favor, and take a peek through the window of a younger version of you.

And then let me know how it goes:-D.