I’m back,
and it’s not about extra letters this time (sorry). As his older brother,
obviously I’m the biggest and most radical critic of Jake’s posts. However, as
embarrassing and exaggerated as some of them are, his most recent really hit
home. You know something has significance in your own life when you immediately
empathize with it.
While Jake
missed out on some dope outings we had before he got home, his attempts to
create a sense of solidarity in a partially damaged group of friends were
valiant, but mostly unsuccessful. While this post takes on a few points, the
one I want to focus on is keeping in touch with old friends that are miles
apart.
Jake lived
9 houses down from mine. From the days where we played Pokémon and I swung him
around in my front yard, to when I froze him behind his house during freeze tag
and subsequently ran home (leaving him there frozen) and ultimately when he
joined me at Park, we’ve pretty much spoken every single day for at least 12
years. I remember when he whipped out his first cellphone (a krzr) at his
bar-mitzvah luncheon (he looked dapper), seeing him roll up in his first car (a
red Jetta, you can’t miss it) and when he got into Emory (a miracle, really).
And, although our colleges are relatively close compared to the rest of our
boys, we still only manage to communicate a few times a week.
When it
comes to others, communication is even more infrequent. Regardless of what
happened in high school, I firmly believe that communicating with people from
home frequently is just a hard thing to do on a day-to-day basis. Although I
don’t talk to some people as much as I’d like to/should, it just makes seeing
them at home that much better. While Jake emphasized the pitfalls of his “tough
break,” I’d like to do the contrary, convey the highlights.
Each time I
have come home for break, I’ve found a new appreciation for someone from my
days back in the 410. Some petty grudges have been revoked, while others
withstand. It really helps you weed out who may actually remain a close friend
of yours as the school days slowly draw to a close. While I believe that people
do change, I haven’t seen much change in anybody, yet. It’s unfortunate that
Jake didn’t get to experience this quintessential idea he had of winter break,
but it’s not time for him to give up yet (although the submission of his Camp Androscoggin
application makes it quite clear). Baltimore will be Baltimore, and the ‘Ville
will be, well, you really have to see it for yourself. But at the end of the
day, that’s what life is. Although it’s a harsh reality, it’s probably hit some
sooner than others.
Each break
has brought something new. New phrases are coined and memories are made.
Hopefully all of the people you consider your “friends” will read these posts
and have the same realization as you, Jake. They’ll learn to cherish these
short but sweet breaks. They’ll learn that home will always be home, regardless
of how settled in we all become at our respective schools. No matter how “out
of pocket” you get, once you’re home it’ll all eventually go back to normal.
Don’t give up just yet, Jake. People do change. Whether it’s for the better or
worse is for you to determine.
--MG
