The Residual Effects Of The Past

My friend Dave at work told me this crazy story how he got a phone call from someone he hadn't heard from in 30 years. It was a girl he had a massive crush on. They're both in their 40's now.

After high school, she went to college. Married her college boyfriend and they both became lawyers. Bought the massive house, drove the luxury cars and ate out all the time. A decade later, it all turned to shit. She quit her job, got divorced and is now studying as a Buddhist monk. I honestly didn't even know women could. But here she was.

Anyway he was telling me how stunning she was in the past. He was in love, she loved him as a friend. I think we all experienced that at some point. My own story was emotionally crushing, but lame...now looking back.

Well, this girl called Dave. Dave told me that it shocked him, since he's not in the phone book, and she doesn't own a phone soooooo...power of the mind, I guess? She called to catch up and...get this...to go see the new "Star Wars: Force Awakens" with her. See...

...flashback those 30+ years, Dave and this girl had seen the first one in 1977, then the next one..."Empire Strikes Back" finally..."Return..." So they'd shared this experience together. Close to 40 years ago. For some reason it stuck in her mind...through, I would imagine...many other red flag banner days, that she had to see the newest "Star Wars" with Dave. To which she explained "...it just seemed right." I have this theory, that deep in our core, we are still the children we stopped growing as. The last fun moment in your life, the one that stands out...the one that touches the deepest part of your heart at its simplest moments...are the ones you remember most. I remember being in a one bedroom Hell hole in the upstairs of a house. Best memory I have. A warm memory. I wouldn't doubt the girl I lived with thought about that moment here and there. It doesn't mean there's new sparks...just that we do still hold onto our past, that I suspect we want simple again. Simple and clear. I believe she may have remembered Dave as that person who simplified her life back then. Before it was all muddled with what life threw at her.