Blast from the Past

I found out recently that a friend I had gone to highschool with passed away in a motorcycle accident. I hadn't spoken to him in about 3 years, and when I found out about what happened, I couldn't even remember who it was. It took about 2 days to actually click, but after it did I started to remember everything about this individual. Everything from his interesting character to the Concord he drove in high school. They say it was a freak accident, which makes the whole situation worse. At times like this you can only think about the families, and what they must be going through.

This incident also made me think about so many other things. Most importantly... the friends we loose touch with. All the fiends from junior high, high school, or wherever. You share so many good times with people, and when you move away, everything gets lost in an instant. (Unless you make a concious effort.) But in my case, I'm guilty. I have lost so many friends because I havn't bothered to try and contact them. Is it because I'm lazy, or just the fact that you can't keep all your friends?

Another friend who I hadn't spoken to in about 4 years (for various reasons), added me to MSN a couple nights ago. When I saw his nickname (which is also his last name) I knew exactly who it was. As soon as I saw his message, I started to get flashbacks of growing up with this guy. I couldn't even remeber how long I had known him, or how we met...just the fact that we got along really well. He started a conversation... "What have you been up to man?...How's life? ....Where are you living?" were just a few of his enormous list of questions. I tried my best to keep up with him, but he was jsut to quick. It was 4am, but the conversation made me forget that I had a long day ahead of me. "I rented 3 scary movies with my girlfriend yesterday, and all I could think about was your 'horror-movie-sleepover-parties' you had in grade 4, 5, and 6!" he said to me. I was taken back, and didn't know what to say. "Those were the greatest times," I responded. The conversation went on, but all i could think about was those parties.

Things are so innocent when we're young... Our lives revolve around our friends and family, and nothing else in the world matters. But honestly, should our "grown-up" lives be any different? Do we have to put our material responsibilities above the ones that make us laugh?... Above the ones that love us? I look up to the ones that know this isn't true...

-Zak