Peter Pan

We've all got one of those friends. You know the ones that I mean.  The ones who just don't ever seem to grow up, the ones who cling to all of their high school friends so desperately that they have no idea what they want out of life.  They cant be happy for your success, because you're further along than they are.  And they can't be there for you when youre hurting, because in their mind their problems are still much worse than everyone elses.

I like to call this Peter Pan syndrome. Off to neverland where you never have to grow up.  Yes I miss things about being a teenager. Things like summer camp and flexible work hours and that grace period between graduating high school early and getting a real career. But thats about it. I dont miss the drama, I dont miss the schoolwork and I dont miss being that young. Because being an adult is better. I have control. I have freedom. I can stay out till whenever and take off when I want to. Some day I'll take my own kids to summer camp and everything will have gone full circle.

Some day they might realize what I have already grown up enough to know; that summer is not an adventure, it isjust a season. Gas prices are just something that you live with and move on, not a crisis. And free time is never really free. Sure there are days where you stay in your pjs all day with a good book and a pot off coffee and a disney movie, but those days are few and far between.  The rest are filled with work and laundry and bills and excersize and if youre lucky.  Trying to help your friends with their own things to get done. Life is an adventure that never stops and I don't have to wait until June for that sense of excitement anymore.  It's my life, and all I have to worry about is keeping the excitement alive and well.

I love the friends I have in my life with me right now, the ones who are going on their own life altering journeys right beside me.  The ones who understand, and the ones who are going through harder stuff than I am.  Because that what we do, we pick each other up, dust each other off, and keep on going.

I will probably hang out with my old high school friends now and then, but not often. Just to catch up and see how they're doing.  To reminisce, but not to relive.  That was the life that I had, not the life that I lead.  And to be honest, if the person I am now were to go and relive those good times, I don't think they would have been remembered as being "good times".  The stuff that you put out of your mind is what makes memories sweeter when you're having a hard day.  I had years with a best friend that were amazing, but looking back to the gnarly day-to-day bits, we didn't always get along.  I had some great adventures, but I'll have some even greater ones in the future.  Maybe even tomorrow.  So goodbye Peter Pan, I'll see you around.

Love,
Alice