37

I’ve been listening to the soundtrack from The Perks of Being a Wallflower in my office today, a movie set during the time I was a teenager. It is strange how a certain song or smell or even the current return to some 90’s fashions will transport me back. How does something smell like the 90’s? I’m not sure, but it is a thing! I tend to be a nostalgia freak and I recognize that everyone canonizes the culture of their teenage years, but we were awesome. C’mon, we just were. Seriously, we were the last of the kids that went to the library to do our research papers, had to say, “Is so and so there,” when we called our friend’s home phone number. I have talked with friends about how glad we were that we came up before Facebook, before iPhones and youtube. Mainly because all our mistakes and indiscretions could have been available for the masses, but it isn’t just that. We had to really make an effort to hang out, to be together. We made face to face connections and many of mine have lasted and strengthened to this day. I know there are some who think it strange or even maybe sad that many of my closest friends are the same ones I had in high school and college, but it is a testament to those connections- the lunches in the Johnston courtyard, the marathon sleepovers and, later, the nights dancing til the lights came on at Mirage or Paradox. These people aren’t just memories to me, but they know my daughter and they were at my wedding and they will say amazing things to me when I need it the most. As I enter my 37th year, I thank God for these people that, although we are now in our late thirties, will still have sleepovers, and lunches and sometimes still even dance all night til the lights come on.