There was this moment ten years ago when my friends & I piled into a car, headed to Bojangles during lunch hour. Taking the back way through a neighborhood, we barreled up the street in a powder blue Camry, as only teenage drivers can do. We hit this perfect spot where the sun was shining, our laughter filled the air, the red & gold leaves falling daintily around us.
We all wondered aloud – “Does it get any better than this?”
& promised each other that we would never forget that moment.
(oh look, there’s my feet again!)
I never forgot. & in moments when I felt lonely & like I would never be deserving enough of friendship, I’d pull out that moment like an old down blanket. Warm. Comfortable. When those same girls & I fought viciously over pride & lost touch for years, I would miss them & think back to the days when it was as simple as falling leaves & laughter.
When life was so wonderful & complicated at seventeen. I fell in love for the first time, stared in awe at the Sistine Chapel, & cheered on the team under the Friday night lights. Simultaneously praying & worrying that life was as good as it gets in those moments.
At seventeen, I had no idea what lay ahead for me. For any of us in the car that gorgeous afternoon. I had not met the soft-spoken country boy with the big hands & blue eyes. I did not dare to dream of a little boy with curls that would change my heart so completely.
Life at seventeen was good. Life at twenty seven is better.
to my sweet friends – I miss you. & sometimes, I still make happy lists.
This post made me smile on a sun-less day. It also reminds me of something my friends and I would have done in high school.
LOVE this! And it totally made me cry (dang preggie hormones).
I’m LOVING that there is a Bojangles reference here! I just love the south!
It’s funny when we look back at ourselves and what we thought of…you wrote it so eloquently. As always.
Love this. That age was such a carefree time, when I think back. I wish I would have appreciated it more – life without mortgages and careers. ahh…
it is absolutely better as we age! Today i turn 29 and I am reminded once again of that truth. thank you!
Happy Birthday, Grace!!
Perfect!! To reach back and grab something like that is a gift. Keep opening them!
What a great post! I remember those days with my friends too. Good times.
sounds cheesy, but i still remember the first time i met you sophomore year- i was the new girl & you were SO nice to me in chorus. i also remember exactly where i was when we emailed back & forth & made up after that year of crazy fighting. i think about you all the time, pray for you, and am always wishing i could do more to help. i’m always always here. & i miss my powder blue camry too
I wish I could read my 17-year-old self this letter. What it says to me is that girlfriends are important, that memories can last forever if you let them and that even at 17 when the moments don’t feel like they could ever be better drive more slowly in the powder blue car because I promise there are better memories just around the corner.
Thanks for the beautifully written post Blair
Its nice how moments like that stick with you. I agree though, it only gets better!
This made me tear up. Beautiful writing.
I SO OFTEN think back to high school when where to go on a Friday night was my biggest problem. Sometimes I long for those simple days when all we’d do is grab McDonalds and hang out at someone’s house all day or drive around town for hours. It was great. But then reality hits. Today I have an amazing family, and though my life may seem out of control sometimes, it’s out of control with the most rewarding “problems” ever.
Such a great post!
LOVE taking mental pictures. And I agree with many of the comments here… although it was a fun, crazy, carefree time, it IS better now. And I wish I could tell that to my 17 yr old self who thought life was “so hard” back then. It’s tougher today, with all the responsibilities, debt, kids sucking the life out of me, etc, but, somehow, it is way better! Who knew??? EXCELLENT post.
Man, sometimes I feel like we are so much alike. That is all.
the highest compliment is to be like you, friend.
What a great post! 17 was my favorite age so it definitely took me back. Thanks!
i think any woman over 20 can relate to this. absolutely beautifully put.
Where do you find your awesome shoes? I think we are long-lost cousins or something
Where do you find your awesome shoes? I think we are long lost cousins or something
What a beautiful post. I agree- life is better as we age. And sometimes I still make happy lists, too:-).