Homecoming Installment 2: Friends

I found it uncharacteristically hard to come back DC after this past trip home. I don’t necessarily think that I’d be happy moving back home, but there are certainly some things that I’d like to have more of. If there were some way to collapse the middle of the country and make the US into a giant isthmus where I had easy access to both the east and west coast, I might be the happiest of campers. Each of them provides something without which I don’t really feel whole, which makes it difficult to be in either for an extended period of time.

It’s really no secret to anyone that knows me that I like to be a fan of my friends. I get gushy where some of them are concerned. Well, the much beloved Kelly is likely where this tradition started. We’ve been friends for seven years at this point and lived together for three of those. As a matter of fact, if I had any hope of living with her again, I’d likely be rather tempted to move back to LA. Every time we hang out I’m struck by how easy it is to just be around each other. We’re so used to living together that spending time running errands or doing nothing at all seems pretty normal. It kind of harkens back to college when you could kind of count on just sitting on some one’s couch with a bottle of wine, before everything had to be planned and scheduled. Having that taste of what I’d loved so much is kind of what made the return to DC painful. I know that I can’t go back, and that if I did move to LA, I’d have to start all over building a social network. Kelly wouldn’t be my roommate, and I’d be more or less alone. I’ve changed for the better since moving here (actually, I suppose it’s been more growing into myself than changing), so I can’t really say that I wish I hadn’t left, but it’s not always easy to think of what I’ve given up in the meantime.

Further on the topic of friends, we have the estimable Matt. Our friendship is founded upon our status vis-à-vis Bryce, and the bonding that occurred during the winter odyssey. It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that we get along as well as we do considering that we share a best friend. It is however always nice to find that some one is kind, giving, smart, and fun. I don’t know whether he and Bryce have been good for each other, or if they were both just such good people to start out with and happened to find each other. Regardless, I’d like to extend a big thank you to the Armenian contingent of my weekend for the tacos, and for the amount of driving you did. It was much appreciated. Once I find out how to carpet your home in the Bella Terra Astroturf, you shall be repaid.

My final entry on how friends impact my trips home has to do with the difficulty of keeping in touch with everyone you care about. At what point do you just give up on people? Given that I had more recent friends to enjoy, I never got too upset about the lack of response from those who still live in the OC. However, I do wonder how much longer I’ll continue to try to meet up with them when I’m back in CA.