I just got home from a nice night out with T– and her family. She was my best friend from the time I was 5 until we went away to college. We kept in touch after that, but this is the first time I’ve seen her in a decade. Much like the visit to Raleigh, it was wonderful to see her and yet strangely disorienting.
There’s a sense of utter recognition. I know her mannerisms, her sense of humor, her personality and yet the details of day to day life are all vastly different now. The blend of familiar and new is odd.
In many ways, it’s been the same driving around town. I’ll turn a corner and be struck by the utter familiarity of the place, and have solid memories come back in association but I completely lack an internal map of Raleigh anymore. It’s a whole bunch of individual memories, but I’ve lost sense of the whole.
After dinner, we went back to her parents house, where she grew up, which was also utterly familiar and yet completely new.
Mrs. W– served peach cobbler. If I hadn’t been utterly nostalgic already, this would have broken me. I wish I could have stayed longer.
Just back from a trip myself, (5 days at the Oregon coast- actually sunny and warm!), and catching up on your doings. This post fascinates me because in a few weeks I will get a visit from one of my closest friends in college, whom I’ve not seen in about 13 years. I have wondered how the familiar old and alien new portions of our life arcs will interact.