There are these times in our lives that sometimes feel much more alive than others. When we think back to them they almost shimmer in our minds; mirage-like on the edges of our memory. For me, these times usually are part of great seasons of change and growth in my life- periods of time where I was learning more about myself, stages I'd consider important in shaping me into the person I am today. And when I look back to the memories surrounding this song, they're crystal clear but beginning to get hazy around the edges as the years go by. And it's not really even just one memory- there's a million all tucked into this one song, but whenever I hear it I'm taken right back there.
I was 19, and still in that in between stage where you feel like you have one foot in your adolescence and one foot edging closer to being an adult. I was up at college, and got back in touch with some high school friends who invited me over to their house the next time I came down to the valley. One of the guy's girlfriends was named Sarah- she had gone to my high school and we knew many of the same people, but had never really connected or knew each other. It's funny to think back now at the two of us in those first days, kind of talking online, leaving little Livejournal comments, the very beginning of our friendship.
And I'm sure you know what it feels like when you meet someone and just CLICK. Male or female, there are certain people in the world that we are meant to have in our lives and when we come in contact with them, it just feels right. I have been lucky enough to have a handful of them in my world, and when I met Sarah it was this way, sitting and talking a mile a minute because there was just so much to catch up on, our whole lives really, and we were just enthralled with one another. Instant-best-friends, in the most surface way you can become close to someone instantly, but as that Fall went on that instant made way to a stronger friendship that felt more like being sisters, together all the time.
Music was a big part of our world, and we would drive around for hours just singing along to our favorite bands and songs. We'd go out to clubs at night, dancing at Hot Pink until the wee hours of the evening, Outkast's Hey-Ya and Prince remixes and old 80s pop music. We'd sit at her house, drunk off our butts and laughing until we cried, making up dances and being so silly. And there was this one song, Heaven by The Fire Theft that we would listen to constantly while driving. Funny because it's more of a love song but we would over dramatize it all the way and belt it out whenever we were in the car. When I listen to it now it takes me right back to that time- that small apartment, new friends and old friends, our crazy plans and crazier nights. We were dating two best friends and would often dissect each others' relationships to make sense of it all, so that's all wrapped in there too, along with Casey Moore's and Tempe and downtown Phoenix.
And so I guess this isn't really a story. It would be hard to tell just one that's related to this song. I knew I wanted to write about it though and once I started writing this is what I got. It's the telling of a feeling I suppose- the feeling of being young and in love with life and knowing that the world really is whatever you want it to be. It's riding around with your best friend and knowing that this is the good stuff, singing as loud as you can without any thought about tomorrow. And so to me, this song is Sarah. It's being 19 and 20 and 21. And that song is that time in my life and being an almost-adult and not really knowing who I was yet (but really believing that I did, of course). Really though more than anything it's a coming of age song to me, in the weirdest, funniest, happiest way possible.
So, that's my response. How about yours? If you'd like, leave an excerpt from your response below, along with a link to your post. I can't wait to read it.
Read more about my Journal Day project here.
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