Old Friends and New Beginnings
Since I left BU two years ago I've been chatting on and off with my friend Meredith - one of my all-time favorite people from college. Coming into the position of assistant dean in the middle of a community crisis during my sophomore year, Meredith became one of the few people I felt really close to during the second half of college - particularly during the semesters towards the end when I no longer felt really close to anybody.
Meredith struggled for quite some time through the UCC ordination process while at BU. And when I heard that she was finally going to be ordained I was quick to mark my calendar for a trip out to Rockport, Mass. to be there for it. She's always been a source of support and kind words as I've made my way along my path and I always look back on our chats as great memories.
During our conversations over the past few months I found out that she will soon be the new chaplain at Ithaca College and will be moving to the area in the next few weeks. I'm really excited we'll be so close.
As time tends to do, I've lost touch with many from my past. I occassionally will exchange emails with my friend Ryan from high school or postcards with Samantha from Semester at Sea, but I seem to have lost the bonds I once had with others I used to be so close to. I don't think it's anyone's fault really, life has its priorities and with time and distance it's easy to let old friends slip away. It sucks, but it happens. I'm just glad for the friends I still have in my life, no matter how remote we are from each other, and that soon I'll have another one close by (well, within a couple of hours' drive).
In about a week or so I will be moving, myself. I'm only moving about 20mins away from my current place but it's still a chance for somewhat of a fresh start. It feels like a lot of things are changing for me at this point in my life - moving, beginning to play a larger role at work, taking steps in a new direction religiously - and it will be interesting to see how it all works out in the coming months. I can already feel some of the effects of it. On a few levels I feel more like myself than I have in a long time. Since coming to some of my recent decisions I have felt inspired to write, something I haven't felt in a year or more. And it's things like that that reaffirm that I'm doing the right thing.
