At this point in my life, age has become somewhat irrelevant. Three of my closest girlfriends are 23, 29 and 41 years old respectively and yet the views on life and common ground we share is staggering. My ex was 10 years older than I and it was never really an issue, although he used to jokingly ask "Why couldn't I have met you in high school?", to which I would reply "Because I was in kindergarten."
I was looking through photo albums at my mom's house yesterday and long forgotten memories began flooding over me with such intensity, I had to stop. I found pictures I didn't know still existed, of my first serious boyfriend here in Colorado and our trip back East for him to meet my family, which I had forgotten occurred. I look so young in the pictures and we both look so happy. It's bizarre when you can look at a photograph and know exactly what you were feeling or thinking at the time, even though it was a decade ago. As I gazed at us sitting side by side on the sofa, our arms around each other, I thought "I once loved this man. He was my world." Then to re-enter the present and wonder how feelings that were once so poignant and palpable could cease to exist any more? Conceivably, he has some of these same photographs in his possession, wherever he is, and I wonder if he ever looks at them and has similar musings.
I found photos of the wedding of 2 good friends who are no longer married and who are no longer very good friends. The fact that I am old enough to know people who have been married, had a kid or two, gotten divorced and are now remarried, blows my mind. It doesn't seem possible and it makes me question what the hell I've been doing all this time...
A friend posted an old photo on his facebook page the other day, of himself, me and another friend, circa 1997. We were posing in front of my 1st apartment, trying to look bad-ass, I suspect, but really just looking silly. I almost didn't recognize myself with my bad, at-home dye-job, ill-fitting clothes and hint of baby fat still clinging to my naive little face. Yet, upon further contemplation, I realized at that point in time, most of my friends were off at college; I was working full-time and spinning my wheels around town; and I was completely, over-the-top in love with my friend in the picture, who's feelings were not reciprocal, making my life a miserable, endless span of days spent simultaneously longing for him and berating myself for longing for him. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but I'd venture a guess it's worth at least twice that many feelings.
No comments:
Post a Comment