Wading Through Memories

I went to Chinatown to get my braces tightened, like I do every month. And every time I go, I hope that I might make it through my appointment and be back home without running into anyone I used to know. It's not that I hate them, but that I don't feel any connections with them anymore. When I talk to most of them it is a conversation born out of politeness.

After I left Haines, the elementary school I went to, to go to WY for 7th grade, things changed. 7th and 8th grade are the two years that kids change the most. Those moments that I missed out on are memories they share that I will never have the privilege of knowing. But it's not even just that. Those years I had at WY changed me in such a way that I don't think people from Haines can understand.

Sometimes, I feel like I've matured so much at WY, and when I revisit my old friends, it feels as if they haven't matured at all. I marvel at how they could still talk the way they did, the way their minds still thought about the same things. When I see them, I wonder how they can continue to do it their way, when the rest of the world does it a different way. Here's a bunch of people that are still into anime, that are geeky around girls, and listen to Korean music like all Chinese people do. But in the four years I've been separated from them, I feel as if I've grown enough to begin my life.

I want to start doing things with my life. I want to start a company, or manage others, or just take on responsibilities in general. But these guys that I grew up with are still kids in my eyes. The way they act, it doesn't look like they think the same way I do. They don't want to grow up and become adults. So while we may share a past, I'm already looking towards the future.

-Gary Mei