Looking Back: Best Year Ever

Well, this December thirty-first was very different from the last. A while back there were talks of going in to the city to see the ball drop, but that didn’t happen. A large, glowing ball that takes a mere minute to descend 77 feet, after hundreds of thousands of people wait in the cold for several long hours. Sure it’s purely a symbolic event, with no true significance, but I feel like it’s one of those things that everyone should try to go and see at least once in his/her life. I suppose I’m a sucker for sentimental things like that. I believe, for example, that everyone should see the sun rise on the east coast, and set on the west coast at least once. Instead, though, we stayed in good ol’ Pequannock. The night had true promise, but failed to deliver.

Well this was supposed to be a recap of my projected (to be fair, and clear, this projection was not made by me) best year ever, and I just wrote a lengthy paragraph essentially about one day, the last day. Now I’ll start back at the beginning and try to work through the year with some more concision than previously employed.

January 1^st, 2007. I wrote the Blog entry that seems to necessitate this one, the one that was critically acclaimed (if I may characterize the comments left in such a way) by my peers. It gave me some confidence, something I rarely have much of, in my writing. Unfortunately I haven’t found much inspiration to write since that night, which bothers me to an extent, but that’s not important now.

To cut to the chase, the first half of the year seemed to fly by. Second semester seniors; we were almost there, the air was thick with the angst of graduating and leaving PTHS. AP exams flew by, and before you could say “Great Gatsby,” prom had come and gone. We were quickly approaching the finish line, and there was no turning back. Yearbooks were distributed, signed, and read. The last days of school were soon upon us. With the exception of Volonnino’s research project and some other minor tasks, schoolwork was more or less a thing of the past. The last few days were full of emotion, and promises to keep in touch, some sincere, others not.

June 15^th, 2007. We received nothing. No diploma that day. In a grand ceremony, though, we had graduated, we were high school graduates, we were alumni of PTHS, we were free for the moment, destined for bigger and better things. “Glory days, well they’ll pass you by…in the wink of a young girl’s eye.” It was true. Gotta love The Boss. Next came the summer, the shore, and graduation parties. Next came the goodbyes. From the gazebo to Outback, the emotions were indescribable.

August 29^th, 2007. I remember lying in a bed, unable to sleep. I was thinking. If you know me, then that sounds like most other nights of my life. This was different though; I was in a hotel room in Boston, and I was moving in to my dorm room the very next morning, I was hours away from the college life, but it still hadn’t hit me. I don’t think it ever did hit me, I just was there one day, and on my own, and everything was fine.

October 13^th, 2007. I awoke to a phone call from Mike Del Moro, and a greeting by him, Annie, Steve, and Joe. It was a great surprise. We didn’t actually do much that day, but it was nice to see the faces (and the hair) and hear the voices.

Thanksgiving came and went, and we all looked forward to once again unpausing our Pequannock-lives in December. Sure enough, that time came too. Our first semester of college was done. Some of us changed a lot, some hardly at all, but when reunited, life seemed to resume where we last left off. I met a lot of great people during my first semester, and I hope that trend continues, though I will never be able to forget whence I came.

It was a great year. I'd even go so far as to say it was my best year, ever. I had a blast. A lot of firsts, and a lot of lasts, and a lot more to come...

Memories and friends are both very precious, and neither should ever be forgotten. Thanks for the memories, and I'll never forget this year or the people I've spent it with.