Tuesday, June 10, 2008

things are always the same, and they are always different

a few weeks ago, i ran by my old high school. some teenage boys honked and yelled at me. i'm thinking they might have meant it in a "hey baby" sort of way. i wonder if they could tell after they passed me that i am totally a mom. i kind of had a laugh at that. as i was running by the old high school, were i got my diploma.... ahhh, 12 years ago, i had some vivid memories come back to me.

there was this one time that my best buddy and i went spelunking through the pipes that led under the soccer field. i don't know what kind of pipes they were, only that we were on an adventure. i don't quite remember how old we were, but we probably were old enough to know better. it was incredibly creepy being inside a wet pipe and travelling uphill. i hope that i remember correctly that it was was a storm pipe, and not a sewer one.

i also remember that same best buddy and i going to school one day. we were flying downhill mile hill (these are the same kick ass hills that i've been running up) when i mumbled something about "watch out for the birds.." and we hit one. it was just a bunch of feathers on the side of the road, and in the grill of "the enterprise". which is what the car my friend drove was called. after the star trek ship. and yes, we were that nerdy.

that reminds me of this best buddy and how she had a captain picard life size cutout stand up person. and this captain picard made an appearance in my s.b.o. running for office video.

that reminds me of the many videos my bud and i made. the nature one where we were focused on a creepy snail until she squished it. and the skateboard one. and the one where i swore for my fist time on film, driving around in my bright orange pinto. or it could be frozen turkey assembly, or the one where we all danced in spandex to flashdance.

i was really cool, huh?

we spent a lot of time together, this best buddy and me. from the time we were in 5th grade, until we sort of "fell out" when we were seniors in high school. i had some of my best memories with my chum.

like knocking on my window at some ungodly hour of the night, to wake me up, so we could go and do something prankish, wild, or crazy. i think i sneaked out way more than my parents know (sorry mom and dad). we also used to just hang out.

as i was running today, i took the trails this time. or at least a dirt road. this road took me up next to the mountain. next to the rock formations and fields that we used to explore as we were three wheeling around. i remember a lot of times and places where we must have had angels keeping us on the road or right side up. summer was an endless opportunity of finding lost canyons and hidden mine caves. hiking up the mountains on clear days that turned stormy. taking ramen noodles for lunch (yuck) on adventures up the mountains. outfitting the three wheeler to hold all our camping gear and 3 girls to boot. camping at a place called gushing springs and getting shot in the cheek with an bee bee gun. eating corn out of the can for dinner. sitting on the road in the middle of the night and making pee trails to see who would win. taking grandma's wheelchair down mile hill and pretending she was hurt and i had lost control of the chair.

every summer, the first week of summer vacation, she would always do something crazy and get hurt. like the summer after 9th grade when she put on roller skates and skidded down the hill by my house, or the next summer when she put on some other kids roller blades and skidded down another hill. or the time she got in a motorcycle accident and skidded down a hill. or different soccer injuries that necessitated wheelchairs or crutches.

there were other players involved in a lot of these things. some that stayed loyal and true, and some that have since been lost. in all these things, my best friend and i were there.

i miss having friends like i did back then. as i was running today, i felt so sad when i started remembering all the fun things. memories hit me one right after the other, and i was laughing at the silliness. then i felt like crying. crying because i missed it so much. i guess i was feeling homesick.
some things change though. i am not a 14 year old girl who feels invincible. i'm a mom to three little boys. little boys who need my attention daily. who need me to take care of them. i'm also a wife. different responsibilities, different daily tasks. not so much homework, as working on my home.
my friend has changed too. although i talk to her sometimes, she hasn't been the same for a long time. it could be the fact that i "grew up" quicker. being married and starting my family so much earlier. i have older kids, while she is still having babies. she isn't nearly as free as she used to be. we used to be wild and crazy. i was always the one holding her back. now i fear, she has something else holding her back. i hope she finds that spunk again. i miss that about her.
somethings do stay the same. i still love her. i still owe her. she invited me to church when i was on my own. she helped me when i was new and shy. she was there when i needed to laugh, get out of my house, or just be goofy. she showed me that anything is possible.
i just hope my kids get to have a friend like that. i hope they have someone that they can have adventures with, someone that will get them into a little bit of trouble, help them learn about what is really important, and be a good example to them.

5 comments:

Laurel said...

It's so good to have a friend like that! I had one of those too...but we don't talk anymore. Kinda sad. lol about the honking though. you are one HOT mama!

smart mama said...

i sometimes really miss those silly carefree moments of growing up and the crazy things are a part of growing up friendships-- okay i love that you had a pinto-- my boys have many toy pintos and gremlins they are convinced they are the coolest cars ever

Darren said...

i kind of miss those days too. you konw, the good old days when i had friends and did wild and crazy stuff... i guess watching some of my old high school videos while on the treadmill gave me the same trip down memory lane. i don't talk to any of my friends from those days either.

but i wouldn't trade my family! it's a different kind of fun.

Megan said...

Ah, the good ol days. Sometimes it would be nice to just go back for a day or so, eh? It's funny that it seems like you spend your whole childhood waiting to grow up, and then when you do, it's like, "What's the big deal?" I'm trying harder to find joy in the journey- but sometimes it's hard, dangit!

Star said...

Ahhh, the good old days, skinny dippin' in North Ogden Pool! I definately miss those days, but they don't have to be over do they? I guess it would be a tad more embarrassing to get caught now that I'm 30.