I was told by a stranger from my small, quiet town to know who your people are in life. This woman was shorter than me, round with a happy face and kind eyes, but her words were meant as serious advice. “Know who your people are,” she told me, “because they will be important in your life.” As she said each word, faces of my friends flashed in an almost 80’s themed montage, and I thought of every one of you sweet, sarcastic, insane people I can call my people.
I remembered coming home from college to see you all again, sitting around a campfire as if none of us had left for a year. As if we were back in high school and we weren’t adults. We were just us. I remember us going up north for five days of whirlwind fun and crazy cold swimming in a lake. I remember us going to see our favorite artists play on stage and screaming the lyrics with them. I remember our adventures, but I remember you all the most. I remember how you smiled when we jumped in the freezing water. I remember your eyes when you got to touch our favorite singer. I remember your voices when we laughed. We can make a Monday night feel like a Friday. We can make a McDonald’s feel special. We can make the best of the situations we are in.
We are so busy trying to balance being kids and being adults, being responsible and being immature. We balance our lives so chaotically, it’s a miracle we are all still here in one piece. But there are no other people I’d rather go through all this craziness with than you guys. From one group to another, from one friend to another, I love all of you. I thank you for all you’ve done for me, from getting me sushi to checking up on me when no one else notices I am not myself. No one gets me like my people do. I would go to the ends of the earth for you guys, because in your little check-ups and acts of kindness, you guys mean the world to me.
I hope we stay each other’s people. And if not, I understand but I hope you can look back one day at the polaroid’s I took of us on our adventures and remember that, even for a little bit, we belonged to people who were as crazy as us. I hope you look back and smile. I hope that when you hear "Clarity" you laugh at all the strangeness I was when we were young. I hope that when you see Daredevil posters, you remember the time we jumped into a lake wearing matching superhero socks. I hope that you all know how much you mean to me.
So when I meet that lady again, I can look her in her wide dark eyes and tell her that I have the best people in the world at my back. And we might be a little different, a little crazy; we might laugh too loud, be too mean to each other, be too cliché, but we are real and true.
