"Time just fades the pages in my book of memories"

OK, if anyone can name the artist and/or song that lyric came from, you deserve a really big prize. I'll be really impressed...

Yesterday was an awesome day. Seeing as I'll be moving to Cadillac next weekend, Dad set a world record by telling me that I did not have to mow the lawn and that I should just go out to the lake and have fun! Whoa! So Mitch, Matt and I headed out there, eventually joined by Ryan and Courtney. I got super sunburned driving the boat for a good part of the afternoon and truly enjoyed all the swimming and laughing. Dinner brought more hilarious conversations, stories and reminiscing...those are the times I love best. And the evening had just begun at that point.

So after dinner, Bobby hears about a volleyball game happening up at McHattie and though Mitch and Matt had already left, Court, Ryan and I decided to head up there. Instead of playing jungleball with a bunch of younguns, Ryan called Brian Lee and then informed me that Bob was in town. Now, ever since he broke up with Adrienne, I have not spoken to Bob at all. We kind of clashed, even though I always considered him one of my friends, but when a guy breaks my best friend's heart and has been being a dick in their relationship for the past year (at least), well, it's hard to try to maintain any sort of friendship. Still, I've been praying for him since they broke up, hoping that he will be able to find happiness and a higher purpose in his life (he had some issues with/bitterness about religion). I was torn between excitement at seeing someone I hadn't in awhile and apprehensiveness at how he would react to me, but it turned out to be a great time. We played volleyball for awhile, then Bob suggested we go get Dairy Queen, like old times. Every summer since high school graduation, we've played co-ed fours at McHattie, and often our games concluded with ice cream. We have some many jokes, like the little tables at DQ for NBA players, and we rehashed a lot of them sitting around with ice cream cones and slushies.

When I got home, I took a shower (I had almost forgotten the feeling of McHattie sand stuck to my legs and feet!) and was talking to Amanda on the phone when Bobby called and said everyone was over at Bob's and wanted me to come over. When I got there, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings - a plan Bobby did not inform me of, since he said I wouldn't have come if I knew they were going out. It turned out to be even more fun, and as I sat around the table with Ryan, Bob, Brian and Bobby, everything from the last four years came flooding back. We talked about songs we used to sing (Blink 182, Nelly...), traditions we've lost (Fourth of July volleyball, summer camping trips...), and funny times we've had (Central/Western weekend, hanging out at the lake...). We talked about how everything is different this summer since no one but Ryan and I are really around South Lyon anymore, and though it never came up, we all knew that after Bob and Adrienne broke up, things couldn't be the same anymore, even if the whole crew came home again.

I was never sad, reminiscing everything, and I don't really miss what we shared because I know we will always have the memories. Change just happens, and while I may have moments of being wistful for old times, the new times are just as good. I'm jsut so thankful to have had yesterday because I got to see an old friend, the friend I liked. Not the friend who hurt my best friend, not the friend who doesn't like my fiance, but the friend I can laugh with and joke with, the friend I shared crazy times with, the friend I want to remember when I look back.