Old Friends and New Adventures
From left to right: Ryan (our dearest friend), Benjamin (me) and Daniel (my brother). We have been friends since before we could remember. Dan and Ryan are a year older than me, but that never really made a difference growing up together. In the early years, the only thing greater than our imagination was our hunger for adventure. We loved building forts, playing army, skinny dipping, climbing trees, and always being barefoot. I can't recall a time that we ever played video games or watched television. Since Ryan lived far away, we always took advantage of the time we had together. I can remember on many occasions when one or all of us would get hurt, but there is one that stands out: When we were in elementary school, we went on a camping trip with a whole group of other kids. On the day we left for the campsite Ryan had a cast removed from his arm; it had taken three months to heal. We arrived at the campsite and just before dinner we and the other boys decided to play a game of touch-football. By the end of the game, Ryan was on his way to the hospital.
As we grew older, our adventures grew wilder. Our favorite one was camping and rappelling on Mout Yonah. We reached the summit just in time to watch the sunset. While watching the sun go down no one said anything, we were just happy to be together again.
Cut to present day: Dan and Ryan have both graduated from college and I'm going into my Junior year. I would have graduated at the same time, but I took two years off to work in the mountains. Our friendship has remained strong through the years even if we went several months without even saying a word to each other. My favorite aspect of our relationship is that during the times we are apart we can come together again and pick up right where we left off; no shallow small talk.
Today is more emotional than most because Ryan is embarking on a month-long journey to California with a slight detour through Canada. He will be "dirt bagging" (living in his car) all the way there. Once in California, Ryan will be teaching an outdoor ecology class to 4th-6th graders in Santa Cruz. Also, at the end of July, Daniel is going on an adventure overseas. You can imagine my frustration with the mundane task of finishing college while my best friends are living out some of our childhood dreams. I just wish we could do them together.
On the days leading up to Ryan's departure, we taught him how to drive the tractor. He also helped us plant some corn and sunflowers
We used to talk, as kids, about being all grown up and doing big things, never expecting that day would actually come. Alas, here we are looking back on our lives and missing the days when we only worried about yellow jackets and falling out of trees. There is a blissful calm that comes with nostalgia. We want to chase that feeling for as long as possible and I think it is that feeling that drives us to new adventures. To be honest, we may never see one another again or at least not all at the same time, but we will always have the memories of growing up together. The bond we have is created by those memories and nothing can ever take those memories away. I hope we will all be back together again, but for now, all I have are the memories. Our minds are still rushing through the treetops and our hearts still beat to the sound of bare feet running through the forest.
