Passing the Time

2008 was a big-ish year, I suppose. Graduated college, new job, new car, new state... I've now lived in Greenville long enough that if a cop pulls me over, I can't make the excuse "but I just moved here and I'm not used to driving in the hilllllls..." So that's kind of a bummer. But on the bright side, I'm able to give fairly accurate directions (as in, you'll get there eventually) and I no longer need to consult google maps every time I run to the grocery store. I'd say that all comes out of the wash on the positive side of things.

It was a bittersweet year characterized by big decisions and difficult good-byes- but that only made for joyful reunions later. Looking back, these are the moments that stick out to me:

• Walking around Hillsdale on a balmy day in early January with Mike, Maggie and Zach during a 72-hour vacation from reality. Wearing only Maggie's fleece, full of stromboli and utterly happy.
  
• Giving my Little her disk while we waited at the steps of Central Hall in the freezing cold. She screamed into my eyes as I tried to put it around her neck and she jumped up and down so that it nearly choked her.
• Going to Wal-Mart on Sunday night after leadership with Kristen and Hannah after receiving some shocking news. Tears and a stomachache and their laughter.
• Our last Club at the Cavity. Pictures, balloons, driving the bus, telling my life story.
  
• The Hamiltons' apartment the night of graduation. Being made to lie down on the bed by Maggie, sitting on the tiny couch with all my favorite people present. Kristen was sober.
• Cooking at the house on Lake Bawbeese. Fish tacos and wine with Margaret after biking home from work, pasta and pineapple all day with Natalie and Zach, chili dogs before listening to Mike tell stories from the corner of the living room.
• Sitting on the floor of Zach's empty apartment my last night in Hillsdale, listening to music and talking about lesbians, eating ice cream from the tub and crying my eyes out.
• Driving home from Flat Rock in my new car, absolutely giddy.
  
• Waking up with Margaret the morning of her wedding and talking between our beds. Surreal.
  
• Buying herbs at the Farmer's Market with Alycia on a perfect Greenville Saturday morning. Affirming her decision to buy a $5, passed-on-through-the-generations high chair for their then-unconceived, now-conceived-but-unborn child.
• Speed-walking through the airport terminal in Boston to see Mike, Maggie, and Zach at Thanksgiving. Literally trembling with excitement as I hugged them all and each, Mike talking loudly, Maggie's crazy face, Zach's genuine smile.
  
• Skyping with Hannah in France at 5am her time, sitting at my kitchen counter, sharing a brain. She, to me, is a channel of Christ's peace.
  
• Sitting down to play the piano when I arrived home on Christmas Eve. Mom in the kitchen, Mark and Ryan playing Wii in the family room, Dad at the computer.

I started 2008 the same way I ended it- watching TV at the Agauas house in Sterling Heights, and as lame as it might sound, I'd be okay keeping up that tradition for years to come.