mini college reunion
february 27, 2007
i've always been one of those people who never pretends to have more friends than i really do. i think you know what i mean...some people say they hang out with this group and that and make it seem like they know oh-so-many-people but...i for one who may seem to have a lot of friends but in reality, it's just a handful here and there. while some people have a huge conglomerate of friends held on via tangents from high school and college, i can literally count on one hand how many of those are still in my life. rare indeed. rare indeed.
is it because i didn't have any back then? no...i had plenty. i knew a lot of people and alot of people knew me. but when it comes down to who you retain in your life as ongoing friends until you're gray and old? well...that's another story. honestly, in my life, there are about less than 10 people from high school and college combined that i keep in touch with. as strange as that may seem to some of you, that's just the way the dice rolled in my life.
i haven't seen my college roommate (from my 3rd year in college) in 15 years! the day we wore our cap and gown was the last time i saw her. seriously. but for these past 15 years, we've kept in touch on and off and especially more so in recent years with christmas cards and IMs. she came down south for school but went back up north after graduation. and since then, our schedules never worked out when she was in town or when i went up north.
so hearing that she was going to be in town for work, we made it a priority to meet up for dinner and catch up on 15 years of life. VGirl was a pretty integral part of my life when i was in my 3rd year of college. somehow we managed to move into an apartment together and i can't for the life of me remember how we even met in the first place at school?!
VGirl was always one of those really athletic and sociable girls that people loved to be around. she was always smiling and we were constantly laughing and joking around. so when i picked her up tonight at her hotel, it felt as if time had stood still and we were just returning back from winter break and catching up on what we did over christmas.
my 3rd year of college was turbulent one for me but she was really a great rock of support whenever i needed someone. i recall my first dog died that year, this guy i was in like with ended up being with another girl, i was working a lot at the bakery and helping out with the family business - and amidst all that - my memories of her and i were of when we went to have pho, went to eat korean food, went to vegas, dealt with drama from imihaters, dealt with guys that just weren't meant to be or we didn't want to be with. whatever the situation, she was such a great roommate and friend to me.
so when we met up over dinner at shik do rak in garden grove tonight, i truly felt like i was 21 again. in my mind, it was like we never grew up in these 15 years. it was like we went out for dinner back in the day...laughing, commiserating, gossiping about so and so. but of course the reality was that we did grow up. our lives have changed. we've moved on in our lives. in the end though, we were still the same person as we were back then. probably nothing would have been worse than if either one of us had changed so much that we would not even have been comfortable in each other's presence. thank god that's not the case though.
what a blast we had in talking about who we still knew and conjuring up names to match faces hazy in our memories. and how funny it was that one of us could remember certain details of one thing while the other one remembers other details. and the amount of time i spent on bringing up old crushes and who was so dreamy and cute was embarassing.
needless to say, i was elated to see her and to hang out with her for the evening. time was much too short though and it was sad to see her leave again when i dropped her off at her hotel. at least we both agreed that it won't be another 15 years until we see each other again. but nothing makes me happier than to see an old friend who is happy in her life and doing well and to be able to pick up with her again as if no time had passed.
that's why she's one of the 10 or less that's in my life from my high school and college days. :)
after meeting her tonight, i felt so happy and fulfilled in an indescribable way. i also felt like there's probably a few more people i should look up again and find out where they are nowadays and pick up with them again. i have such fond memories of great friends and i miss them. let's just hope i can find them again.
currently listening to: jin, yum dom cha
