"So what are you up to these days?"
I lost count of how many times I heard this statement as I manned the checkout lines at S-Mart today.
And why? Because today was Blast from the Past Day II for Krissy. And, oh, how I enjoyed it.
First, my sixth grade teacher came through my line. Which made me think of who I was in sixth grade: insecure, pudgy, unsure, but with as big of a mouth as I have today.
Then came the lunch ladies from my school, who saw me metamorphasize from that insecure dweeb into the loud-mouth dork that I still lovingly embrace to this day. I loved the lunch ladies. They were always smiling and cracking jokes, even as they served up some of the most interesting government-issued concoctions I'd ever seen. In a sense they're some of my role models because they always had such great dispositions, especially with a hundred screaming, hungry children surrounding them.
As I checked them out, we chatted about the goings-on of some of my old friends. One of my best friends from high school--the other musketeer with Em and I--is engaged. EN. GAGED. Good god. (I should really track down her email addy and see what else she's up to....) Another classmate high-tailed it to Florida with his wife. (And godspeed to him, what with the season they're having down there.) A couple other friends are stuck in the Keweenaw, but they sound happy enough, which is ultimately all that matters.
I gave them my spiel about contemplating a Masters Degree and my musings on moving to England. They sounded slightly impressed, which eases my mind a bit. At least I sound like I have plans. Even if--hahah!--I really have no fuckin' idea what I want to do in life. I DO want my Masters. Preferrably in College Administration. And I do want to move to England...if they'll take me. I don't have to let on my fear that I'm going to be stuck in the UP for the rest of my life.
A couple of minutes later, I was face-to-face with a girl I'd had a non-lesbian crush on in middle school. She graduated when I was in eighth grade, but I wanted to BE her so bad that it hurt. She was beautiful, smart, funny, popular and non-snobbish to boot. And she gave a small squeal when she recognized me. (Hehe. *blush*) Seeing her made me remember how awkward I was back in middle and high school. I really didn't like who I was, but I hid that disdain behind a big mouth. And eventually I grew to like who I was. (And am.)
But seeing all of those people today reminded me how far I've come. And how much further this journey will take me. Someday. I just hope that when people from my past come back to "haunt" me, they, too, see how much I've grown.
Ciao, dahling!
~*Krissy*~