Dear Friend,
Have I ever told you how beautiful frienship is? It would be impossible to describe, but I'll try. Friendship is the one thing in the world that can make you feel like you're not alone. No matter how hard your life is at the time, having a friend who cares about you is sometimes all you need to make it through another day. Friendship is the warm embrace after facing the cold world, and the light at the end of the tunnel that makes you push a little bit harder to get to the end.
So, as you know, I'm going through a lot of changes right now, and it's making me think about life and how some people live their lives and talk about the "glory days". Most of the time when I hear that term I think of a middle aged man going through a mid-life crisis and talking about how great it was when he played high school ball. And more than anything, I do not want to be like that middle aged man. I want all of my days to be my "glory days". I think that basing your life's happiness on a few years in your past is a waste. Every day should be spent as if it was a part of your glory days. And that's why I'm making the life changes that I am right now. Because I want to look back and realize that I did everything in my power to do what makes me happy, and have no regrets about it.
The holidays are coming up. I'm not a big fan of Thanksgiving, but I sure as hell am glad for Thanksgiving break. The holidays are always a weird time for me. As you know, my family is anything but normal, and yet we always try to give off this illusion that we are. I always spend small holidays like Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family, which means going over to my grandparent's house and dealing with the whole big "to do". Every year we have the same schedule on how we do things at my grandparent's house. We arrive at least 2 hours before the food is even done cooking, because it's rude to show up right before eating, even though my aunt's apparently don't live by these same guidlines. Then we sit around and switch between scanning the newspaper for shopping sales, flipping between the parade and football, and trying to offer help to grammiese, who never wanted help to begin with. And let me tell you, grammiese is one woman who has to have things a very specific way. The dining room table is always immaculate, complete with the fine china and name cards on each plate, even though the seating chart has not changed in well over 4 years. Every person has a wine glass, because it is inappropriate to bring regular glasses to well set dining room table, so my younger sisters are forced to drink soda out of delicate glasses under the eagle eye of my grammiese. And of course, the menu for each holiday meal never changes because grammiese believes in structure. Thanksgiving consists of turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and rolls. Christmas is pot roast, cranberries, corn, mashed potatoes and rolls. And New Year's Day dinner has honey baked ham, peas, baked potatoes and rolls. Sometimes I wish grammiese would shake it up a little, just to throw the whole family off. Because it's not like we don't throw her for a loop every once in awhile. Whether it be me bringing a new boyfriend along, one, or both of my aunt's showing up, or someone NOT cussing at the dinner table. But I think it's my grandma's desire for structure, appearances and consistancy is what keeps the family together. Yes, we are all a little bit too opinionated and too loud, but in the end, it's my grandma's structure and calm that brings us all together to realize just how lucky we are to have her and each other.
Sincerely,
Me
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
2nd Letter
Dear Friend,
I realized after reading my last letter that I haven't shared with you much about my past or my family and friends. They have both had a large impact on my life, and have helped shaped who I am as a person today, so I feel it is very important to share a few stories about them with you.
As you know, my family isn't exactly what you would call "conventional." My parents got divorced when I was 3 years old, and have both since married my step-dad and step-mom. This also added my two younger sisters and my older step-brother to my expanding family. I was never really affected by my parents divorce because it happened when I was so young, and so I just always thought that this was just the way things were. However, unlike other divorced couples, my parents remained friends, for my sake. As I grew up, I soon realized that this was not a conventional thing. As other children of divorced parents had to deal with arguing over time spent with each parent, and the bitterness, I was going to dinner with both my parents, as well as my grandparents on each side, and having a civilized meal. Although many other kids who's parents were divorced thought that my family was weird for the way that we did things, I learned to really appreciate what my parents had done for me. They put aside their pride, and did the right thing for their daughter, and it ended up working out for everyone involved. I learned that sometimes it's not about your pride or your anger, it's about doing the right thing, and becoming a better person for it.
My friends have also had a huge impact on my life, especially recently. After graduating high school, I still believed that the friends I made would still keep in contact, even though we were all going to different colleges. I soon learned that that was not the case. However, there was one person who was always there for me, my best friend Lindsay. Lindsay and I met through school, and soon bonded over our love for Dane Cook, and our hatred for our cheerleading coach. We became fast friends, but soon experienced some drama, that ended up putting our friendship on hold. For months after, I didn't speak to Lindsay. I had other friends, but none that understood me as much as she did, and to be honest, I really missed her. However, my stubborness got the best of me, and I continued to not speak to her. After months of doing the usual high school bullshit, Lindsay approached me and said that we should talk. We met for coffee, and ended up spending over 4 hours talking. Immediately afterwards, we were back to being friends, and our friendship soon evolved and became a best friendship. Now that we are both going to different colleges, it is hard to keep up with our busy schedules. However, Lindsay and I make time for each other, and we are there when the other one needs support. Lindsay taught me about forgiveness in high school, and also showed me what it means to be a true friend, which is something that I had not experienced in a very long time. I appreciate the friendship that I have with Lindsay every day of my life, and I am so grateful to have her as a best friend.
Infinite: The feeling of being infinite is hard to describe. It's when you're having the best night of your life. The air is crisp and clean, and there's not a cloud in the sky. It's the perfect temperature outside, and you're surrounded by people that you love and care about. Or it could be the nights where you hop in the car with the one you love and just drive. All the windows down, music blaring, and not another car on the road. Speeding under the colored lights of the city, singing at the top of your lungs, and not caring that you're really freezing your ass off because it's way too cold to have all the windows down. It's being yourself for the first time, and not caring what other people think..and letting all your inhibitions fly out those open car windows and into the starry night.
Sincerely,
Me
I realized after reading my last letter that I haven't shared with you much about my past or my family and friends. They have both had a large impact on my life, and have helped shaped who I am as a person today, so I feel it is very important to share a few stories about them with you.
As you know, my family isn't exactly what you would call "conventional." My parents got divorced when I was 3 years old, and have both since married my step-dad and step-mom. This also added my two younger sisters and my older step-brother to my expanding family. I was never really affected by my parents divorce because it happened when I was so young, and so I just always thought that this was just the way things were. However, unlike other divorced couples, my parents remained friends, for my sake. As I grew up, I soon realized that this was not a conventional thing. As other children of divorced parents had to deal with arguing over time spent with each parent, and the bitterness, I was going to dinner with both my parents, as well as my grandparents on each side, and having a civilized meal. Although many other kids who's parents were divorced thought that my family was weird for the way that we did things, I learned to really appreciate what my parents had done for me. They put aside their pride, and did the right thing for their daughter, and it ended up working out for everyone involved. I learned that sometimes it's not about your pride or your anger, it's about doing the right thing, and becoming a better person for it.
My friends have also had a huge impact on my life, especially recently. After graduating high school, I still believed that the friends I made would still keep in contact, even though we were all going to different colleges. I soon learned that that was not the case. However, there was one person who was always there for me, my best friend Lindsay. Lindsay and I met through school, and soon bonded over our love for Dane Cook, and our hatred for our cheerleading coach. We became fast friends, but soon experienced some drama, that ended up putting our friendship on hold. For months after, I didn't speak to Lindsay. I had other friends, but none that understood me as much as she did, and to be honest, I really missed her. However, my stubborness got the best of me, and I continued to not speak to her. After months of doing the usual high school bullshit, Lindsay approached me and said that we should talk. We met for coffee, and ended up spending over 4 hours talking. Immediately afterwards, we were back to being friends, and our friendship soon evolved and became a best friendship. Now that we are both going to different colleges, it is hard to keep up with our busy schedules. However, Lindsay and I make time for each other, and we are there when the other one needs support. Lindsay taught me about forgiveness in high school, and also showed me what it means to be a true friend, which is something that I had not experienced in a very long time. I appreciate the friendship that I have with Lindsay every day of my life, and I am so grateful to have her as a best friend.
Infinite: The feeling of being infinite is hard to describe. It's when you're having the best night of your life. The air is crisp and clean, and there's not a cloud in the sky. It's the perfect temperature outside, and you're surrounded by people that you love and care about. Or it could be the nights where you hop in the car with the one you love and just drive. All the windows down, music blaring, and not another car on the road. Speeding under the colored lights of the city, singing at the top of your lungs, and not caring that you're really freezing your ass off because it's way too cold to have all the windows down. It's being yourself for the first time, and not caring what other people think..and letting all your inhibitions fly out those open car windows and into the starry night.
Sincerely,
Me
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