How quickly the sense of camaraderie turns! I loved the life of the university student– parties, fun, celebrating…  but once I was no longer connected to that life, its significance faded quickly. Joe has graduated and it is time to move on; the old life is past and its relevance ended. I realized that I also never showed the outside of Joe & Juni’s apartment– oh, well, here it is, better late than never.

Recently, graduating students in our neighborhood had huge blowout parties that lasted most of the day and well into the night. It was annoying on one hand but on the other hand I remembered how it felt and was glad for them. There might have been a time when I was *jealous* of them but I realize that, no, that time in my life had come and gone and I was on to other things– things that held more meaning for me. The parties held meaning at the time since they marked significant turning points in my life, but I can’t just coast along on past glory. It is always time to move on… hopefully to better things. That’s the point.

I think that the ability to compartmentalize memories is a survival mechanism– the ability to forget is a sort of blessing. Of course you want to retain the good memories, but sometimes, at that moment, you don’t yet know which memories will be looked back on as “good”. A crazy graduation party can be a memory of accomplishment or bewilderment… best hang on to all your memories and sift through them on your own.

And hope there’s no video evidence as well.