For the past two years, I have always had the comfort of knowing that once summer rolled around I had three months to spend with my friends from home. The time we had during the summer got me through the long busy semesters where I watched my friends grow through pictures. Once we were together again, it was as if no time had passed. Unfortunately, the time has come when all of us will be in different places this summer and a new definition of “home” is being created. I will be off to study abroad in Italy for a month and then back to my hometown to work, my friends will be spread out working in Maine, D.C., Amherst, and Rhode Island. Home will no longer feel the same without them.
It’s easy to resist change and honestly COVID sort of reinforced that resistance for me since most internships or jobs were remote for the past two summers and we were all stuck at home. Now, the world has begun to open up and I know I have no choice but to move forward with it. Although this has been a time that I have been dreading for years, it also opens so many doors for me to travel around the country a bit! My friends and I have already made many plans to meet up for weekend trips in order to still spend some time together. We have a tradition to visit the Cape at least once a summer, and we have been sending dates back and forth to figure out when we can all meet up.
As I grieve the loss of my summers in Lexington surrounded by some of the best people I know, I move forward with confidence that my friends and I continue to make a great effort to be with each other. Just because our life together in one setting is ending, doesn’t mean that our friendship can’t or won’t adapt to new circumstances. In fact, it already has! We were all so used to attending school together and seeing each other daily to only seeing each other in the summer. Now, we just have to work a bit harder to see each other a couple of times a year.
I won’t lie that even writing this article is a bit unsettling and sad to me, but my friends and I have made it this far and still maintained such a strong connection with each other. Plus, who knows where we will all be after graduation next year, we may just all end up back home again! As we enter a new summer, remind yourself that you are not sacrificing your friendships by allowing each other to grow. And, as cliche as it sounds, distance truly does make the heart grow fonder. Enjoy your summer wherever you may land, and when you do get the chance to see those hometown friends, hug them for just a little bit longer.
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