A few years ago whenever my cousin and I would talk to my Grammie about something that was bound to happen in the distant future, she would end it with “but I’ll be flying around with the angels by then.” It was never a favorite saying of ours, but at the same time we never really made much out of it because to us she was invincible. But this past year when my Grammie passed away and inevitably gained her wings to fly with those angels she always spoke so highly of, I learned that nobody is invincible. Nobody is inviolable, and that’s what this year taught me.
This summer, as my friends and I spent all of our time at each other’s houses talking about everything from crushes we had in third grade to inner conflicts we were all facing at the time, I realized just how fast we’re all growing up. My best friend flew across the world to make a foreign place her new home for five months, and I realized I wouldn’t see her again until I was twenty-one years old, a milestone birthday we had been talking about for years now- and that realization made growing up fast feel that much more real. Growing up is inevitable, and time really does move fast whether you want it to or not, and that’s what this year taught me.
365 days is a lot of time to be thrown into different situations, and to learn from the circumstances you are thrown into. And truthfully, it would be unfair to oneself to only focus on the lessons that are a little harder to cope with. When I lost somebody so important to me, it was the hardest thing I have been through to date. But out of that came more time with my family, more time being able to remember and love the person who always meant so much to us. There hasn’t been a time since she passed that we’ve gotten together and haven’t at least told one story about her, and in that way she lives on through all of us. It took a rough patch to help me realize that family really is forever, and that’s what this year taught me.
My best friend may be half way across the world right now, but she’s experiencing something that some people only dream of. She was nervous to go, but has been there for over a month now and is taking her new home by storm. It’s important to step out of your comfort zone and take risks, because being able to fill your life with adventures is one of the biggest beauties of life itself. Although you can’t control time, you can embark on some really amazing adventures that make that time worthwhile, and that’s what this year taught me.
Life is full of ups and downs, and depending on how you look at it you can really scratch the surface and make something so beautiful out of even the most bleak situations. Life is all about what you choose to make out of it, and personally, I think that’s the most important thing that this year taught me.