Voices from the past

Wow, it hit me today that its been 14 years since I graduated high school. I only realized this today because I heard a voice over the phone that I haven't heard since then. Its been 14 years since I was a kid. I say that only because that voice jokingly threatened to jump off a bridge from depression because she just realized we are old.

I don't feel old. I don't think I look old. Nope, I'm not old and I know that because of that voice.

I haven't laughed so much in ages. It's funny how people change and grow and yet there are others that no matter how much we change we can still laugh with. Maybe because we were friends 14 years ago. Or maybe because of the paths we have chosen we have things in our lives that make us friends now. Maybe it's because we both wear glasses. Maybe it's because she's tall and I'm short. Maybe it's because we are both mothers at 32. Maybe it's because we know what dorks we use to be in high school. Maybe it's because we both still dorks now.

I can't believe it's been almost a decade and a half since I walked across that stage. Though I may go back to my high school every year for a fund raiser I have no real contact with anyone I knew back then. Yes, there is Facebook and I am thankful for that because it lead to the phone call today. I don't talk much to my former classmates even on Facebook though. Maybe because our lives now don't really give us much to talk about that the other would really care about. Or maybe it's because we don't take the time to try and find that connection again. I think it's really because people do grow up and they do change.

I am not the quiet, shy girl I was in high school. My husband can attest to that. At least the not being quiet part. I am stronger now. I am more open now. I am more me now. And despite the 14 years between high school and today I was not nervous to talk to my old friend. In fact, from the moment I heard her voice I felt like we were sitting in class again talking about surviving the S.E.E.P. At the same time though, I felt like I had made a new friend, someone who understands me now and likes me. That I am very grateful for.

So thank you, Athena, for making me laugh for over an hour. For making me feel like a normal mom and wife. For rejoices in our chubby babies and our crazy deliveries. For reminding me I do have friends out there in the world that knew me way back when and can like me now. For making me realize that I am kind of normal after all.

It's been 14 years since high school. I am looking forward to future and the people in it.