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The House East

August 9, 2010 12:29 AM

wo of my best friends from college got married this weekend. With a few exceptions--one of which was especially notable--pretty much everyone I knew in college was there. So were friends of the bride and groom that I've come to regard as my own friends. And chelsadilla came, too.

I was obviously happy for my friends. It was obvious that they belong together to almost everyone for years and years. I remember seeing the very beginnings of their relationship, and I remember hearing about happy they both were. I know how happy they were yesterday, and I'm extremely happy for both of them. I know that their marriage is going to last for a long, long time, and I'm looking forward to watching it all happen.

But while I didn't lose sight of the fact that the focus of the weekend was the wedding, something else kept crossing my mind--and I'm not talking about the fact that I delivered the best speech of the evening. I hadn't seen the vast majority of the people that were at this wedding since college, and I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive about the whole thing. But what I was amazed by was how easy it was to fall right back in with these people.

Like alot of people, college was the time when I really became who I am. "College" is a vague concept, though. I can articulate the exact factors that mattered most: Flagstaff, NAU, and The House mattered. What mattered most, though, was the people. Some of the people at this wedding saw me on the first day of college--a day when I was at the height of my awkwardness and insecurity. If I remember correctly, I had green hair, I was wearing all black, and my shirt said something like "Everything I need to know I learned from porn."

And it was with--maybe because--of these people that I went from being that ridiculously awkward seventeen-year-old student to being the slightly less awkward but certainly much more confident twenty-eight-year-old attorney. I was closer to some of these people than to others, but there was nonetheless this overwhelming sense of familiarity and belonging when we were all together. "Ruby Can't Fail" came on, and everyone ran to the dance floor. They all had the same moves. They all smiled the same way. They interacted with each other just like they used to. I scowled because I hate dancing. "Hey Ya!" came on, and I forgot about how much I hate dancing and ran onto the dance floor with everyone else. And I shook it like a Polaroid picture, just like I did six years ago. And we laughed about our North Korean friend and human bowling and hikes gone terribly wrong.

There was another thing I noticed, too. At one point, I was catching up with someone and she said something like "Every time I hear about what you're up to, you're doing better and better." And it struck me that the same could be said about everyone. Everyone that was part of my group of friends in college is doing really well. They're doing good work for themselves, their families, and their communities. I looked around at all of these people and I didn't feel inferior or superior; I felt proud. Part of the fact that everyone's doing well is obviously that everyone I was friends with is talented and driven, but I also like to think that we influenced each other and pushed each other along at times.

In any event, this weekend was a great time. Congratulations to the bride and groom.


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