Time Warp
Written by Ann Pietrangelo on June 11th, 2009 in Conversations, Family & Friends.
I recently caught up with an old friend on FaceBook. We lost touch in the 70’s, and haven’t seen or spoken to each other since we were 18-years old, and this year we will both turn 50.
After a lot of back and forth messaging through FaceBook, she suggested we speak by phone, “like people used to do in the old days.”
We had a lot of catching up to do — marriages, divorces, kids, jobs, life. Her voice sound exactly as I remembered and I couldn’t help but picture her to be the teenage girl I once knew. She still has a youthful tone to her voice, along with the sense of humor that I remember so well, but the depth of our conversation illustrated the passage of time. It was a time warp of sorts, the past and the present co-existing within me.
I felt almost giddy with youthful memories, while welcoming the experience and wisdom we’ve gained through the business of living. We spoke until our phone batteries gave out, but promised to keep in touch. It is a promise I believe we will keep. The passage of time unimportant because we managed to recapture the friendship that once was, closing the gap of years.
After digging through some old photo albums, I finally found the treasured item — a yellowed old photograph of the two of us when we were 14-years old. We’re looking straight into the camera lens, smiling and happy, on a class trip, with all the promise of youth reflecting on our faces.
We couldn’t have known then what the years would bring, couldn’t have prepared for what was to come. Neither of us has lived the life we imagined back then, but we agreed that our experiences have shaped who we are now, and we’re good with that.
We laughed, repeating the oft heard, “if I’d have known then what I know know…” Our parents said it; their parents said it; one day our children say it.
Unfortunately, we can’t have the youth and the experience simultaneously, but the rewards of reaching a certain age are many. One of those rewards is reaching back through the years and recalling our youth, and the people who knew us when. Heck, we’re only 49, with a lot of living yet to do.
