Over the last two years I wrote a salutary post to the previous graduating classes, sort of officially acknowledging and congratulating them as a whole on their achievements. In these cases I'd make some kind of mention about being glad to having known them and being friends with them, as such. So I should do now what I've been doing, and start with the list of names, and say some goodbyes as well.
There's something amiss, though, and I can't quite put my finger on it. Some of these people I will probably never see again (not an uncommon theme), but at the same time there are several that I expect to see very soon. It's weird, because I know I can't say when I'll next return to Northfield, and consequently when I'll see these various persons that I'm sure I will see.
When I left my church 4-5 years ago, I wasn't sure how I'd keep in touch with many of those friends ever again. But one thing these last several years has taught me is that in spite of changes in each of our lives as well as the distances that separate us, we still keep in touch decently well. So much for those worries. When I lost a high number of graduated friends from a year ago I was set with the same kind of worry. In spite of having mixed results based on the success of keeping in contact with them, I realized that I've done much better than I could have expected. There is of course the occasional expectation for me to do better than I've done, but at least right now I have hope that I will be in semi-regular contact with several of the friends I've made over the four-year period I happened to be a college student.
So without further ado, cheers to '08ers Aurora, Will, Brett, Taylor, Jonathan, Derek, David, John, Scott, Matt, Molly, Hannah, Eric, Alissa, Carol, Adam, Brandon, Kyle, Colin, Maranda, Joel, Tracy, Ben, Christine, Jamie, Levi, Nolan, Nathan, Pat, Anna, Kimmy, Max, Chris, Sean, Sarah, Marcie, Christine, Adam, Lauren, Christoph, Daniel, Millie, Casey, Kaitlin, Nick, Dylan, Chris, Peter, Keith, Andy, Nowlan, Lindsey, Trevor, Paul, Brendan, Wei, Jeremy, Brock, Lindsey, Carrie, David, Laura, Tyler, Brittany, Tyler, Paul, Katie, Clara, Peter, Brianna, Keshia, Katie Beth, Neil, Jenna, Eric, George, Sarah, Kate, Paul, Antonia, Tom, Kathleen, Kris, Jana, Steve, Kelin, Noelle, Keeley, Ben, Megan, Rob, James, Sarah, AJ, Kevin, Tyler, Christy, David, Kevin, Carl, Ariel, Nicole, Joe, Alec, Tom, Whit, Norm, Laurax, Paul, David, Noelle, Alycia, Catie, Katherine, Courtney, Abraham, Amanda, Marie, Kirsten, Nicole, Mackenzie, Kenny, Rob, Darin, Matt, Chris, Jose, Claire, Nick, Carl, Bob, Tara, Laurel, Liana, Lucas, Mark, Anuwat, Adam, Emily, Spurg, Beth, Ann, Liz, Jess, Tom, Alan, Hannah, Greg, Jonathan, Ethan, Alex, Sam, Molly, Mike, Emma, Cam, Luke, Will, John, Stephanie, Jonathan, Laura, Pete, Cindy, Eric, Mikael, and Sarah. I'm so glad to have graduated with you all. I couldn't have found a better group of people to spend four years with (OK, so the class of 2007 would make a strong counterargument, but that's beside the point). So many memories that will always be there, but moreover, with some of you, many more yet to be made. And that's what I'm hoping for.
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Post-script: For dinner tonight my dad, grandpa and I went to Hogan Brothers for what just might be my last time for quite a while. But it was after dinner that got my attention the most. I'd gotten some ice cream (see reason in first sentence), and when I returned there was a family of three---dad and two daughters---that positively entertained the three of us in all sorts of ways. The father was very intelligent and regaled us with stories about geology and the early moon missions. The kids kept peppering grandpa and me questions about ice cream. We were all able to go back between the two media of conversation, and it kind of showed me a potentially open window of what I will be more likely to encounter now that I'm done living in a bubble (and yes, this term is specifically used with Lindsey Meyers' speech in mind). Maybe being off the bubble will do me much good. At least that's the hope.
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