Day 09 → Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.

Everyone has so many people come in and out of their lives. Childhood friends, acquaintances, best friends, family, co-workers. The list goes on and on. Some of them we're happy to see leave our lives, because they either drag us down or stopped serving a purpose. Some people we're sad to see go because they enriched our lives or helped us become a better person. Out of everyone that has come and gone in my life, I only genuinely miss a few.

I went to a small Catholic school from Kindergarten to 8Th grade. I had the same 21 kids in my class from the time I was 4 til I was 13. We weren't always super close. We were just like every other group of kids, but in such a smaller group it's hard to not consider them your best friends no matter how much you do or do not get along. By the time 8Th grade rolled around, there was a group of 10 of us that were inseparable. Come graduation time, we all were going our separate ways. Several of them were going to private high schools, while some of us were being dropped into the hell that is Clifton High. I never have adapted well to change and quite literally cried til I couldn't cry anymore at the prospect of not being with these same kids every single day. I was afraid of high school. Shit scared would be more accurate. I knew going into it that the 21 kids I grew up with, and the 6 of us that were going to Clifton wouldn't be anywhere near each other. I'd have no one and I wasn't good with not having my hand held when major changes hit.

We spent the entire summer together before high school started. Every single day, literally. One of us was moving out of state before September. Some of us were just moving on period. Once high school started, everyone met and made new friends. Hanging out with new people was easier than calling the old. We slowly all grew and drifted apart, having our own lives outside of the small classrooms we spent 9 years in. I was sad to see them all fade out of my life, but people and things change.

13 years after we graduated 8Th grade we had a reunion. 10 of us spent the day together, laughing, drinking, meeting each others' spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends and kids. Reminiscing about childhood, looking through old pictures and talking about our futures. Since that day 2 summers ago, I stay in touch with all of them. Some of us decided it was too much and while the reunion was fun, thy didn't have room in their lives for all this. I talk to some of them every day now. Some every few weeks. We plan get togethers and really enjoy meeting up. Our kids play so well together and its nice to have them back in my life.

We all have to grow up. We all lose touch with people over the years. Friendships that helped you through that awkward phase in life fade too. But years later you can always find a way back. Some of those kids know me better than I know myself, and just because we drifted apart, doesn't mean its forever.