Walking Down Memory Lane...

I’m walking down memory lane tonight. I’m walking in the shadows and joys of my past—and thinking of people I haven’t seen in years. Some, I wonder about. Others, I would like to see again. Still others—are better off left behind, no matter how curious I am as to if they made it through.

There are songs I can’t listen to anymore because they bring back parts of my life I need to leave in the shadows, there are movies that I don’t watch for the same reason.

But now and then, a good glimmer of my former youth comes through. Like tonight when my favorite roommate from college sent me a picture of us with a few of our friends we hung out with.

I looked at it, then laughed and shook my head. What a time we had back then. We were free spirits and it’s a wonder we didn’t die from a few of the stupid things we did. But we had fun for that time period. In honor of that memory, I’ve got Pink Floyd on for the moment, and I’m letting myself wander through the years gone past.

I was a party girl. I started college young and in 1979, when I hit The Evergreen State College, I was 18 and a junior. And I had already been away from home for most of the past year. I’d hitchhiked to California with one of my sisters and lived with her for awhile, I’d been engaged (and disengaged), even though I’d been madly in unrequited love with a dear friend—one of those I will leave in the shadows because I’d rather remember him as he was and not the person I last remember him becoming.

I had my Associates of Arts degree and was ready to take on the world—I was out to be an author, and I was going to publish my first book before I was 22. I knew it in my gut. I was all about experiencing life and looking for love.

Within one year, things would begin to unravel, and within two, I would make some choices that still nag at me today. But all of what I experienced made me who I am now—so none of it was wasted.

But when this picture was taken, I was happy for the most part. I was insecure about my body, hating the way I looked, but I loved my friends and I enjoyed my life and I had a lot of fun.
So here…yes, it’s blurry but that attests to the fact that it was taken in 1980. I’m the one on the left.





My roomie (whom I reconnected with a couple years ago and am thrilled to have hooked up with again) is standing next to me in the orange dress. And our friends—Steve, Nellie, and Nina—were all part of our circle. I can’t remember who took the picture, but here’s a rare glimpse from my past. Almost 30 years ago. A lifetime ago, in some respects.

Yasmine