You’re Always 17 in Your Hometown
I hung out with my high school friends last night. To be honest, they’re the same girls I *always* hang out with. We’ve been friends nearly all our lives. I love these girls. We have TONS of inside jokes, nicknames and stories to share when we get together. It’s usually a really good time.
But last night, I couldn’t quite get into it. Maybe it’s part of my self-reflection stage, but all I could think about was how things NEVER CHANGE with this group of girls, for better or worse. Yeah, some of my friends have gone to school, gotten married, had kids, moved away, etc. But when we get together its just like we are back in high school. Which is fun for a while. But last night I just kept thinking: “Is this all there is? In 10 years am I gonna sit around rehashing what we’re doing now?? And how can I avoid it.”
Don’t get me wrong, I love my friends, but I feel like I need something MORE. That there has to be something more exciting/worthwhile than getting drunk, rehashing our “glory days” and making fun of one another. It reminded me of ‘17′ by Cross Canadian Ragweed. The hook of the song is “you’re always 17 in your hometown.” I never realized how true this was until last night
I’m closer to my 20 year high school reunion than the 15 (God, I feel old. I’m still in the lower 30’s!). And I feel this way just about any time I go back home to see old friends from school or church. Sure, some of them may have married or had kids, most of them have jobs, but there is an overwhelming sense of “dear heavens, get a life” sometimes when I see them. I love them, many of them I know would drop everything to come if something was wrong, but I feel like sometimes I alienated myself by getting away and living on my own for college and the years after. I can’t help but think that if they had also left home and gotten away from their parents and the others that stayed local, we would have a completely different relationship that wasn’t stuck at the same emotional level we had in 1990.
Hokie Thoughts
April 20, 2008