Time
                                                                 by: Anonymous?

"Maybe the time has gone, the faces, I recall.  But things in this life change very slowly, if they ever change at all..."  The scary part being that we've all been hit with change lately, and it doesn't seem to have come slowly at all.  Do you remember the day you left home?  I'm sure that you do.  But I'll bet that what you remember even more clearly, were the days in the week before you left.  You know... the days you spent getting addresses and phone numbers and trying to figure out how to say good bye to everyone you've loved for as long as you can remember.  Do you remember standing by your best friend's car one night, after midnight, trying to sum up the meaning of a friendship you'd managed to maintain through thick and thin for years?  Do you remember how hard that was, to think of how to say goodbye to that person?  It was nearly impossible, wasn't it, to give them one last hug and turn around and walk inside.

I'll bet part of what you remember was the night before you left, kissing your boyfriend or girlfriend goodbye for on last time.  Just knowing that you'd have to turn around and walk back inside was almost motivation enough not to leave.  Stepping back to take one last look at that person you love- it's really scary.  And you go, and you tell yourself that you won't find anyone new.  You won't ever replace your old friends.  You'll never fall in love again.  It's really crazy, what kinds of things can happen when you don't mean for them to.  You get to a new place full of strangers.  You meet people who forget you.  You forget people you meet.  But sometimes, you come across some extraordinarily special people.  They have tears to shed, too.  They left people behind.  They're in love with that guy or girl back where they used to live, and they all want someone to talk to. 

So you talk.  Talk is good.  You form bonds you never though you'd form.  You call your old friends and tell them about the new ones.  Sometimes, they don't understand.  Sometimes, you hurt their feelings.  Sometimes everyone is just a bit jealous.  You miss your boyfriend or girlfriend.  One day, you're sitting in a park thinking about all that stuff you really didn't want to leave, and a stranger sits down near you.  Sometimes that person stays a stranger.  Other times you talk to him, or you talk to her.  Sometimes you experience things you didn't want to ever happen.  Sometimes you're interested in that person who isn't your boyfriend at home, or your girlfriend.  Sometimes college is really complicated.  Sometimes you stay together.  Other times you break up.  Sometimes you think you've done the wrong thing by coming so far away from home.  And sometimes when you start thinking like this, it's time to make a change.

So when this happens, you sit down, put The Eagles in the stereo, turn on "Sad Cafe," and wonder if you still recall all the faces from your past.  If you do, you're doing well.  So, you pick up the phone, and you call them all, just to say, "Hi, I love you, I'm thinking of you."  And then just as an afterthought, you say, "You know, I'm really learning a lot from college.  I wish you'd come here to visit all of my friends.  They're very important to me, and I think they'd love you and you'd love them."

Because after all, this is college.  College is a growing experience.  Growing experiences cause change. Change is hard, but it makes you stronger.  Call your mom and dad.  Call your best friend.  Call your boyfriend or girlfriend, or your ex, if that is how it worked out.  Tell them hello.  Tell them you miss them and that you love them.  And then, turn off the stereo.  Leave your dorm room.  Go to a friend's room, give them a big hug, and say, "Thank you so much for being here.  I love you."  I promise you will feel better.