A and I used to always say that we were destined to be best friends based solely on our proximity to each other. We met each other on the first day of highschool, and since then have gone through many of the best and worst times (thankfully) together. We'd brave the treacherous walk up-hill after school (and even though it was completely unnecessary for me to walk up the hill, I'd do it just so that we could complain about it together), our dad's would take turns shuttling us to school and home from highschool dances and when we graduated they continued to do that for our little sisters. There was also a rumored chance first-time meeting between our mothers at the mall, where they clasped hands as if they were long-lost somethings.
We'd went on to university together, partied together, moaned and groaned about boys together, moved out together, went to concerts, were jerks together, even went to thailand in matching outfits and backpacks together. It was a trip that we'd talked about taking together ever since we saw "Brokedown Palace"...the last piece in solidifying our best-friendedness, and we were going to test it all with a Thai prison as a backdrop.
A moved away to NYC a few years ago and most of what we share fall more and more into the past. I can't really describe how it felt to see her and J step off that bus in Toulouse. It was bizarrely emotional. A is like a living time capsule for me. Looking at her is like a collapsed view of so many things that made up my life...and it really underscores where I am (and where she is) and how far we've come since before we were 25. It's difficult to stay close with the distance and the wonky time difference and I chalk it up to taking our "proximity" for granted - I never thought about what it would mean to not live 5 minutes away from her, let alone on a different continent. So I'd have to say it's always a little bittersweet when we see each other in new environments, because she's her and I love her - but it's a strange reminder that we're not together in the same places like we used to be.
After having said all that - here are some pictures of us in same places TOGETHER! I was ecstatic to meet J (he's wonderful and that's a relief) and to share a little bit of what my life has been like here in France with her.
We'd concluded that between our 4 entrees and mains, we had consumed an entire duck that meal.
Before we knew how much duck we were getting into.
1 comment:
yeah we're far far apart but there's something to be said about the fact that we fundamentally share the same language--"friends by proximity, treacherous hills, clasped-hands-mothers, thai prisons", and, the memory of the smell of the insides of each our father's cars. now, we have the shared language of indescribable lived experiences, memories that we're making far away from one another, and, far away from everyone else we used to know.
it was bizarrely emotional, i didn't expect it, but to see you in toulouse was different from the other times, it gave the physical distance a newness that wasn't felt before.
i promise to learn skyping and you can tell me about your new digs.
Post a Comment