family

Today I was looking at a Facebook album of my friend's youth group (from Rhode Island)'s hiking trip. There's something about the photos that just emits vibes of togetherness. I've been long jealous of the relationships that church has, but over time I've come to accept my youth group family for what it is: a family, just a different type than the Rhode Island kids'. We probably couldn't do the same things that they do; I don't think hiking would work well with our people, but we do bond in our own way, even if we aren't the same as that other youth group. And I love our youth group so, so much. Today is proof; I just got home from a 7? hour hangout with a bunch of the kids in our area (and a few who ventured pretty far to come). We pretty much just watched "Laputa" and "Get Smart" and played Killer. And I fell asleep. But it's times like these that I treasure; times I know I'm going to miss.

It's hard to think of graduating...but in all honesty I'm only a year away from being a senior. I get nostalgic so, so easily, and thinking about it just throws me into this whirlwind of thoughts. So many of my friends (especially from church) have graduated, and they stick around and I get to see them enough to not get sad, but I know that as I get closer to being a senior and more and more of my peers graduate (the upcoming class of seniors is a huge chunk of our church's youth group, and I've been tight with them for 10 years, probably more), I'm going to see a lot of these people a lot less. It's pretty depressing, but I'm clinging onto the thought that one day, if I never see them again, we'll be reunited in heaven for the most wonderful time to ever exist.

And that's what I'm holding onto.