See you later: Part two
May 8, 2023
There is no way to prepare for the emotions coming at the end of the summer. As the school year comes closer to an end, the feeling that I experienced last year, when one of my best friends left me to start a new era of her life at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, has started to return.
We’ve talked about being seniors since high school started, but I did not realize how hard it was going to be when I wasn’t a senior with you two. I will get my senior year and get to experience “senioritis” but I won’t get to do it with you. You will be a flight and a drive away starting a new chapter.
Although we will be in separate places in our lives, the feeling of not knowing what is next will be the same. The unknown is the scariest part about not only leaving but being left. Part of leaving is that you get to experience this exciting feeling about what is to come, where you are going and what you are going to get to experience. As with anything unfamiliar, fear comes along with all that too. Fear about whether you are going to make friends or not, if you are going to have a good relationship with your roommates and the process of adjusting to living alone. However, being left behind provides a sense of loneliness and boredom without that excitement. You feel as though you are going to have nothing to do and independence kicks in before they even leave. The thought that the person leaving you may not share the same emotions can be upsetting, but realizing that you are both feeling similar fears and uncertainties, even though you are experiencing them differently, is important.
You are the people I am comfortable with, share everything with and talk to when I have something I need to get off my chest, the people I trust with my life. The people I bring when I am told to “bring a friend,” and the people I have pinned on messages and Snapchat. The people that know the most about me. The people that are going to be the hardest to see leave.
As our lives take different paths, I am excited to hear about all the experiences that college gives to you. I am excited to visit you and excited to have to feel as though we need to “catch up” as we tell each other the same things we have been communicating over the phone because we know it is simply different in person.
I am inspired by both of you from your bravery to your determination to pursue your dreams. Even though it is hard to say goodbye, we don’t have to say goodbye yet. I am grateful for the memories we have shared, knowing that we will not be able to make them in the same way again. With that said, I hope that the new memories that we get to share exceed the old memories without forgetting them. I cannot wait to watch you thrive in this new chapter of your life, but I could wait forever to say, “see you later.”
