This is why I tend to stray away from sappy posts

I’m not the type of person that hates change; I welcome it with slightly open arms. I’m more apathetic to it than anything, which can be seen as good or bad. Sometimes it’s not apathy that gets the best of me, it’s my ignorance. On occasion, I don’t even notice when things change. It’s probably because I don’t watch the news enough. I wish I could give you some examples, but I can’t. Mainly because I’m so apathetic toward them, that I forget they’ve changed. 

The one exception to this rule is when my friends change. It’s funny that this bothers me, since people are constantly growing and thus constantly changing. It used to break my heart; such as,
“Oh (Insert Name Here) and I don’t hang out anymore, that must mean she didn’t agree with my stance on shaving.”
or “(Other Name Here) and I just don’t talk like we used to, he must have seen my hidden collections of poems about him.”
or Some other equally ridiculous assumption about one of my weird qualities that might be viewed as a turn off to people who don’t know me. 

I would look at people changing as a sign of something I did wrong. Luckily, I’m still young, but old enough to know that it’s not my fault, and I should be happy for people changing. It shows that they are growing as a person and are developing into a mature version of their former self. But sometimes not. Sometimes they devolve and become even more stupid. Just when you think it’s not humanly possible for someone to get worse, they do. And as harsh as it is, I hope that they don’t infect our population. 

But back to my main point, in order for people to grow, sometimes they have to change their environment. This is something I have trouble with. I’ll be like a nagging shadow trying to convince people that our hometown isn’t a terrible place. And usually the musical hipsters will disagree; but they’re pretentious and I don’t care about their opinions. When it comes to my friends needing to leave, I get worked up and emotional. When my best friend, Maggie, left for college 5 hours away, I think I cried for a week straight. Luckily she’s back, and Maggie, if you’re reading this remember this: If you move to California like you say you will in the future, I will cut off your hair and drain your bank account!!! Sadly, this is an empty promise, and she knows it. And if she didn’t, well she knows now.

So this brings me to why I felt the need to post about change. I’ve had friends that I have known since kindergarten and such, but we weren’t constantly friends over the years. When I say that my best friend, Stephanie, has been my best friend since 4^th grade, I mean it. We both had boy issues for a few years and even through that mess we remained friends (to anyone out there that is threatening a great friendship for a guy, DON’T DO IT. You will regret it because you will most likely lose all your friends and be mad all the time and when you break up, because, trust me, you will break up, you won’t have the friends you need). 

So ever since I have known Stephanie, she’s always wanted to go to Seattle for college. Well, it didn’t work out. So when I found out she was going to a local community college, I was happy we were going to remain in the same city. Recently, she has decided to expand her education to Lubbock, Texas, and I couldn’t be more proud. She’s going for herself, and not for stupid reasons that some people move away. She isn’t going for a guy, or to get back at parents or anything like that. While it breaks my heart that we are going to be living in different cities for the first time in the entirety of our 11 year friendship, it also doesn’t bother me.

I welcome change, well, sort of. Maybe I can use the excuse of one less friend in the city to make more? Whatever happens, I know will work out. And Stephanie, if you ever feel the need to come back and never leave again, I’d be cool with that too.

(And just to embarrass her)

 (Circa 5th grade, look how adorable we are)

 (Us on New Year's Eve, Stephanie, that's water in your hand, right?)