So I heard from a friend not too long ago that I haven’t talked to in years. We haven’t actually exchanged any words since I had gone down to Long Island to visit with friends back in October of 2005.
When I had gone down I was pulled about 16 different ways and was only staying for the weekend, so needless to say that I didn’t have all that much time to visit with anyone really. It was more of a weekend excursion that it was a real visit.
We have however talked on Myspace and on AIM here and there since I had gone down, but we haven’t actually heard one another’s voice in a very long time.
So she had sent me a message on AIM knowing that we hadn’t talked in quite awhile.
It was really nice to hear from her and see what she has been doing for the last 2 years, funny to think that we had met back in 2000 or so when I was 18 and she was 15 or 16.
During that time of my life she was a very important person to me and I really liked her along with her mom. Funny how things go, like the more they change the more that they stay the same. Before I had moved in 2001 we really hadn’t talked too much because of things going on in our lives. I can still remember the last time that I had seen her before I had left.
I was living in a small studio apartment in Smithtown, really it was more like a 1 car garage that was transformed into an apartment than anything else. The apartment itself was down the street from a park that just so happened to have a playground and a pond. I sure did love the area there, it was really quiet and was all in all a very nice neighborhood. I can’t recall the street name or even the park that was located at the end of the street off hand but for me being an 19 year old kid it wasn’t at all too bad.
The night before I had left I got to see some people that I had worked with when I was at the King Kullen in Commack. There was Rosalie and Dan, myself and one other person I can’t recall.
Dan and Rose had given me a shirt that had the Charlie Brown patented squiggle stripe on it as we had dinner at an Outback Steakhouse. I remember that I wanted Dennis to come as well but he was really hard to get a hold of at the time for one reason or another. I remember very well at how special everyone had made me feel as I was preparing to come back to upstate New York. Now that I look back on things it almost makes me want to cry, but that will be left for some other posts.
So anyway after dinner I had headed back to my apartment and I got a surprise visit from Ms. Sara. That so she came in and asked my how I was doing as we looked about on a very empty apartment. As I recall there was nothing in the apartment at this point but the mattress off of my futon on the floor and a change of clothes for the morning. So we sat there for about an hour chatting and catching up then went for a ride her purple 1999 Hyndai Tiberon, funny thing is that she had allowed me to drive which she had never done before. So there we are 2 teens driving slowly around the neighborhood talking about what the future had in store for us. So we chatted and talked till about 11:30 or so when she went home. After the talk we had I knew that I would miss her the most, it was a rough 12 hours I had after all of that.
After speaking with SaraDD1 today, I am very glad that her life is going well for her. She just completed a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts and is now going on for a Masters Degree in Fine Arts Education. She and her mother are still living in the same house that they have always been in and she has had the same boyfriend for the last 3 to 4 years now. I am just glad that everything in life is working out for someone.
The next day I arose at about 8:30am and headed to the coffee shop down the street from my house, not much of a coffee having the name “International Stairs & Railings”, to get a cup of coffee and return the heater I had borrowed from the owners Mike and Diane. I really miss that couple, they had really helped me out a lot when I was down there, Diane was like a mother to me when I needed direction and Mike was always there to offer me some on the side work when I needed a few bucks.
So anyway I went on my way back to my current home. The ride was like nothing else I could describe as a fun trip, getting lost outside of Middletown while I wound my way down Rt. 17 was like something out of a sad novel. At the time I took 17 as a way to clear my head and be prepared to move back into my mothers house till I could get a job and save enough to move out on my own again. The road was long and the thoughts on my head where grueling, the thinking was honestly killing me.
All the friends and all the good times that I had I was leaving behind to come to a town that offers to me absolutely no opportunity.
Years later I look back at all the things that have happened to me since I moved back here and can see that maybe moving back home here was a mistake. Maybe I could have worked something out, maybe I could have found a place to stay, maybe things could have been alright and I could be doing okay down there with all the people that I know care about me.
All the people I met down there where very genuine people, they all liked me for me, they all genuinely cared. I miss having friends that honestly care, people home here, aren’t like the people I know back there.
Long Island may have only been my home for a short 2 years but I miss it and I love all the people I know.
I miss you all and I will be down soon to see you all.
Long Island misses you too. . .you should come visit soon. . .