Dear Roommate,
When we first moved in, we were unpacking our lives into a small dorm room that we have been calling 'home' for the past eight months. It did not look like much, but we turned it into our sanctuary. As the school year ends, we now must take on the tedious task of packing up all those sweatshirts we bought that are the very definition of school pride, find those lost earrings, take down our pictures stuck to the wall with sticky tack, and fit the lives we have created in college and fit them into boxes and garbage bags.
Before either of us came to college, my mom asked how it is possible to pack up a child's life into boxes? How does one take all their memories and just label them as "toiletries," "pictures," "clothes," and "miscellaneous"? It is so hard because it is sad to pack your memories and then put them somewhere else---packing up our college dorm is no different. In the past eight month, we have created so many more memories and there are material objects that remind us of those events. That t-shirt is no longer just a blue you wore to that dance where we all danced and you learned my obsession with the Time Warp. Those socks are no longer just my favorite fuzzy socks, but the ones I was wearing when the fire alarm went off and it was pouring outside and I decided ditching shoes was a good idea. The mint green shirts we have are not just shirts we wear every once in awhile, but the shirts we got at orientation and are from when we first started living together.
The room itself holds so many memories, too. That sink is where I had to un-shrink that new sweater I had just purchased. The door is where we hung up so many decorations and wrote so many cute messages on our whiteboard. Our room is where we both cried over boys, helped each other write papers, had numerous dance parties, held our birthday surprise parties, etc. It has been our happy place.
We have created so many memories together and packing them up is extremely bittersweet. It is sad because we are packing those special moments away and putting them into storage, but packing them up only means that in a few short months we will be able to unpack them again and create new memories together.
So, as we pack up our last boxes of sweaters and picture frames, let us think of those happy memories and the sad ones, too, and think of how far we have come. Let us remember those moments and carry them with us. Each event brought us closer together and to where we are now. I am so happy that you were my roommate and that we will be continuing to live together. I cannot wait to unpack at the end of August and create more memories with you.
Love Always,
Your Roommate
