Never Forget Those That Touched Your Life

“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.” I don’t know how many of you remember this quote, but it’s very famous. It’s, in my opinion, the most famous quote from Peter Pan. I really hope you all know the story of Peter Pan. The reason I’m thinking of Peter Pan right now is because, last week, I graduated from high school.

That’s right, graduated.

I never have to go back to high school ever again. So shouldn’t I be happy? Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy to have graduated and to be done with high school forever. One of the happiest moments of my life was those two seconds of throwing my grad cap up in the air and having the amazing feeling of accomplishment.

The only thing is it still hasn’t quite hit me that I’m done with high school and next year I’m going to college. I’m getting there, I think. But I still have this weird feeling that I have to go back to Woodinville High next year. Is this crazy? I couldn’t tell you. I really don’t think I’ll realize I’ve graduated until I move into my dorm at college.

I also have this feeling of everything moving way to fast. It seems like just two weeks ago I moved here to Washington, that I said goodbye to my friends. Remember the quote from the beginning of my post? Well here’s where it comes in. I moved across the country when I was seven years old. I left all my friends, my home, my life, everything that I ever knew. My friends and I planted a dandelion in the woods behind my old house before I moved, because we thought it’d be there forever.

It died the next day.

I moved here and made new friends, entered a new school, and started making a new life. Not one of my old friends wrote me, or contacted me. I assume they all forgot me eventually. All except one friend, my best friend, a girl named Lauren. Lauren and I sent letters back and forth all the time. We even made a promise to each other before I left that we’d go to each other’s weddings. I thought even if all my other friends forgot me and, I admit it, I forgot them, I’d still have Lauren, my last connection to Connecticut. I know that sounds dramatic but it’s true.

Anyway, Lauren has stopped writing letters to me. I’ve stopped trying to get her to respond to me. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know anything of Connecticut anymore. It really hurts that Lauren stopped writing to me. I know in this age, it probably seems weird that people would actually write letters to each other anymore, but it was something special between us and now it’s gone.

So, what I’m really saying here is the Peter Pan quote means something to me because I now know that no matter what, saying goodbye eventually means forgetting. And I’d just like to say, even if Lauren goes on and lives her life without me and forgets our promise, I never will. I will never forget her or our promise. So when I get married, she can be sure she, at the very least, will get an invitation to my wedding. She can count on that.