I recently went to one of my best friend’s wedding. I had known him since my freshman year of high school, and the bride since my senior year. Watching them stand up on the little stage they had set up in a small party center where the wedding was held, it was almost impossible to contain myself. Seeing the pure joy and happiness in their expressions as they held each other's hands, it made me feel so happy to see them content together. I’m twenty years old now, and I’m just starting to understand what it feels like to grow old. Watching someone you've grown up with take the hand of the woman that you've known for years, and watch them say their vows. It’s so amazing when I think about how much their relationship has grown, and how I've witnessed such a big part of it.
After high school I went off to college and made a lot of new friends. I've lived with them for so long that I've come to consider them family because of how much we had all been through together. It was weird going back to see everyone in high school because it felt like I had paused one life and resumed another. Memories of fooling around in class with my friends at school came flooding back to me. I felt like I had come back to a chapter in a book that I hadn't yet finished because almost nothing seemed to have changed as I looked at every one of them. They still retained the same personalities that they had two years ago. It felt like I had gone back in time with a clean slate for a moment, but when I looked up at the bride and groom I could tell that everything had changed. I realized that we had all grown older, discovered ourselves, we had grown so much as people in the last couple years since I had seen them.
You never expect it to be a big deal, but when you go back to see where the people have gone in their lives it can feel very frightening. When you see how much time has passed you wonder about your future. As everyone talks about their plans for life and jobs that they've done, you think about what the next step will be like for you. At the age of twenty, my friend has married the love of his life, and is expecting a daughter in just a few months. It feels so strange to bear witness to the creation of a family that you had seen grow from a relationship to a beautiful marriage that is soon to become a loving family.
After the ceremony, we had the reception, we listened to everyone’s speeches, and as I laughed at the funny things each person said, I couldn’t help but turn around occasionally to see my girlfriend sitting there next to me. I kept thinking about where I will be in five years, what my life will be like. I kept thinking that I hope to see her at my side smiling as she was then.
You don’t realize it, but your friends are a much bigger influence in your life than you think they are. I can’t further stress the fact that the friends you have now will always before will have such an impact on your future, so make sure you choose them well. Because in time I guarantee you will grow close enough to call them family.
