that time of life

I'm at that age where I have a schedule of at least 2-3 weddings a year. Often more weddings than I can attend, especially if they're destination weddings. Today I'm going to a really good friend from high school's, just as we just passed the time for our ten year reunion (hell no I won't go). I can remember the day we met, at the age of 14. We are now 28 years old.

Tell me, does it get any easier? The progression from 14 to 28 should be described as "rocky," at best. Oddly though (and for this I blame the patriarchy) it feels as though the real adventures and milestones of life are just beginning to happen. No, seriously. Not even the graduations. Especially if you have been racking up degrees like I have. Only now are my friends and I getting settled into careers, partnering up, settling down, and contemplating starting families. It feels like the big adventures and undertakings are just starting.

I know that this is probably a perpetual student mindset. But for all the ups and downs and drama of the past ten years (and I have been through a fair amount, given the insanity that runs in my family), I feel like I'm just starting. This is actually a good feeling. I don't like the insanely painful and dramatic past. Certainly not enough to reminisce about it over some ridiculous occasion like a reunion. All of the people from my past that I want to carry over to the future are going with me. Today's wedding will feel like that--lifting the past into the present, to be borne into a new future. It's a great feeling--one tinged with the hope of the new while carrying the deep comfort of familiarity.