Prepare yourself for sappiness.

I'm never sure how to begin weekend update entries. So, I'll just dive right in.

Friday, Jenn, Sib, Morgan, TJ, Ben, and I took a trip into Kentucky to the Ludlow Bromley Yacht Club. Despite the $5 cover, the place was really cool. It is a floating bar/restaurant right on the Ohio River. There was a band playing cover songs, the food was good, and the weather was absolutely perfect. I had a great time with them - even though we took a few minor detours. ;)

Saturday, I went to Lebanon's Applefest with my mom. I haven't been able to go for the last four years, so it was nice to finally see it again. Again, the weather was perfect. There were craft and food booths galore, cloggers, and music. The lines were too long for apple fritters, but I have every intention of making a trip to Iron's Fruit Farm this week for some. I love Lebanon in the fall.

Later, I had my closest friends from high school over for a reunion of sorts. The reunion had a pirate theme and we "dug up" a time capsule. It was filled with questionnaires we filled out at a party I had our senior year of high school. We played games, ate, played pool, watched football, sat around the fire, roasted marshmallows, and caught up with each other. It was so wonderful to have (nearly) everyone back together again.

It does amaze me, however, how much some of us have changed.

I remember graduating from high school and vowing that nothing would change. I genuinely believed that all of us would stay close, that our friendships would survive the distance. I didn't think I could ever find anyone else that would ever compare. Only now do I realize how naive I was.

The first year, it seemed easy. We came home often, we visited other colleges, we made all of the necessary effort to remain close. Slowly but surely, however, life took over. Jobs, school, new friends, and other plans stood in the way. Weeks without speaking turned to months. Seeing each other once a month turned into seeing each other once over Christmas break and a few times during the summer. I fought desperately to stay in the lives of a certain few. Despite our best intentions, we fell away from one another.

Four years later, it seemed strange to have everyone together again. It was painful to see how strained some of the relationships have become. People that used to spend every moment together searched desperately for things to say.

When I think back to high school, certain names come to mind - those of the people who meant the most to me. It's amazing how little I know about some of those people now. If you had asked me four years ago, I would have sworn by our friendships, our relationships, our first loves. Now, not only have we separated, but we've grown apart. We have changed. Our lives are totally different. We almost appear to be strangers, strangers with familiar faces. Time is a dangerous thing.

Luckily, I realized something else last night. Suddenly, it struck me that all of this happens for a reason. As I looked around at all of my friends, I realized that sometimes, the only reason why we distance from some is so that we grow closer to others. When I think about my 'best friends' from high school, I realize that most of them aren't my best friends now. I think about how much closer I've gotten with Sib and Morgan since college started. It's amazing how sometimes, time apart is necessary for you to realize who you actually need in your life. For me, they are the perfect example of that.

Although he went to high school with us, TJ was never part of our 'group.' Last night, however, I realized that growing apart from many of my best guy friends from high school is okay. Growing up and growing apart are almost synonymous. As you grow, you realize what (and who) you need. Those you don't need slowly fade away. Only with time do you realize who is your best fit. Sometimes, it takes a few trial runs to get it right. TJ, along with CJ and the rest of the guys from Derailed, prove to me that finally getting it right is worth the wait.

I also realized, however, that some things never change. For me, the shining example is Jenn. She has been the most constant things in my life since the age of 10. I look at some of the other friendships I built in high (and even middle) school and realize that I will always be able to call them friends. Seeing them doesn't require catch-up time. It's simply picking things up where we left off. Despite the distance, we didn't grow apart, we grew together. Luckily for me, I feel this way about many of my amazing high school friends.

...and even those that have grown apart from me have had a profound effect on my life. Simply knowing them has made me a better person. Through movie nights, football and euchre games, classes, and parties, they taught me about friendship. Through first crushes, whispered secrets, hand-holding, giggling trips to my room, and blushing, they taught me about love. Through smiles, tears, embarrassments, fights, and hysterical laughs, they taught me about life. Even if the person I am now wouldn't share these things with these people anymore, I know it happened for a reason. At that perfect moment in time, we lovingly found each other...and through those relationships, we found ourselves. In hindsight, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

So, here's to the friendships that fade and the things we take from them...and here's to the friendships that last and the memories still to come.

I love you guys.