-true. Lately I've been reading a lot. I used to buy used books from Amazon but that gets pricey. I only had one more book left so I had this idea to go to Goodwill. The selection was pretty impressive and everything was $1! So needless to say I got 7 books and I've already read 2. So far this summer I've read a total of 3 books. My whole freshman year I could barely do 15 page reading assignments. First I read "The Man of My Dreams" by Curtis Sittenfield, who also wrote "PREP"... both good reads. Then I read "The Shack" which was a totally different genre of book for me. I've never read anything about religion besides "Blue Like Jazz" but the Shack was really good. It personifies God as a humorous black woman who tries to mend a relationship with a man who's daughter was murdered. It brings about some really deep, heart provoking questions and a different look at why bad things happen to good people and vice versa. Today I just finished "The Myth of You & Me" by Leah Stewart which is about a girl who had abandoned her childhood & college best friend 9 years ago. She reminisces about all the good and bad times they spent together and how she basically shaped her into the person she is today. She wants to make up for lost time and rekindle their friendship but most of the time she questions whether her memory is just a dream she's made up. It really makes you think about all the friends you've had in your life and how they've affected your past, the present and if they will continue to affect your life in the future.. or if they'll just screw your boyfriend behind your back and you'll abandon them in a gas station parking lot.
I certainly agree that my friends throughout my 18 years have shaped my life in various ways. I think everything, every person and every experience has as well. Friends come and go, stay and leave, build and break. We've all had our 'best friends', and at that time they were the best but looking back you realize the total opposite. Relationships are give and take most of the time... "How can I benefit?" and "What's in it for me?" It's a very selfish concept but when you have a true friendship, it's a combination of checks and balances, strengths and weaknesses but you share in them. You don't take what you need when you need it... it becomes a necessity. You don't give when you want or when you're wanted.. you're always giving. Of course I'm no expert at relationships and friendships and I haven't been friends with the same people my entire life either. I like to say I've acquired friends throughout different stages of my life. They've all come from different experiences. The definition of a friend is pretty broad but also specific these days. I mean, I have like 900 "friends" on facebook... what's that mean? Some I've added from only one encounter, never to speak to them again. Some are old friends that I often reconnect with by simply stalking their profiles. It's a different world today. I have proof that my relationships weren't myths... there are pictures and videos of us laughing, crying, and having the time of our lives. It's crazy how I can see/hear/eat/smell/or touch something and then instantly be taken back to a memory. Sometimes they're clear and specific, others are vague and questionable. But there's no doubt about it. I hear a song and I'm taken back to prom '09 on the party bus or I eat a pixie stick, and I'm taken back to ninth grade JV cheerleading practices. Names, places, events, everything comes flooding back. Sometimes it's overwhelming but it's also a rush of nostalgia. I'm grateful for these times. It's my past but it's still affecting me today and it may affect me forever, even if that friendship and the experience is over. A friend is a blessing. "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." -Prov. 18:24
A last quote from "The Myth of You & Me"...
"A happy ending isn't really the end. It's just the place where you choose to stop telling the story."
I'm going to start a new book! Feel free to send me your recommendations!
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