2026 Already Off to an Amazing Start
This morning I got an email from an old friend, one I haven't seen in a dozen years. She and her family have moved to my city; it's been a long time, sorry, sorry; would I like to get together sometime?
Very grateful for whatever cosmic luck led to this. We were friends as teenagers in the late 90s, online; talked on ICQ and AIM and message boards and both kept online journals pre-LiveJournal, when that was a thing. We sent each other little letters, mixtapes and CDs, care packages. I moved to Ottawa in the mid 2000s for a year, and we became irl friends. I didn't have any other friends that year. I hung out with her and her then-boyfriend. We went to the pub. We saw a show or two. After that academic year, I dropped out, moved half a country away. As is often the way, we talked a lot less.
The 2020s have seen a lot of my old friends pass away, and I don't take anything for granted anymore. I'm so glad she reached out. It needs to be a lesson to me, to do the same for others. Even if we don't live in the same city, maybe especially if we don't live in the same city, just reach out, send an email, say hi.
Life is short, and I've been feeling it. Life is shortening and I've been feeling it. Grateful for a wholly unexpected email, for someone who remembers me, and hopes we can maybe rekindle that friendship again.