And I Haven't Touched the Water Since...Part Two

August 23, 1992 (12:55 a.m.)

I'm tired, but I can't sleep. I'm sitting in my black and ivory room listening to the Tori Amos CD I bought today. Peggy and I went CD shopping earlier. I also got the John Lennon Collection. Two lovely works of art and a well spent $32.

The Fall semester starts in nine days. I can't believe how fast the summer's flown by. It seems like yesterday it was my birthday and it's already 3 1/2 months ago. On my birthday night Eric, Darius, Sean, Nick and I sat around the big table in Denny's, drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes and laughing. And laughing. I miss it. It's changing. Why do you appreciate things more once they're gone?

Diane's baby shower was lovely. I emailed Sean afterward explaining how odd it felt for the for girls (me, Di, Jen and Peggy) to all be together again in Di's parents house and that even though I am so happy that we’re all friends again, it’s bittersweet because we all wasted so many years. He told me not to feel regret about it. And he’s right. There’s still a lot of future and the people who played such a major role in shaping who I am as a person have all found their way back into my life.

On September 4, 2010 I found myself, once again, in Ocean City. The summer was coming to a close and it was time to say goodbye and embrace a new season.

I thought about this blog as I stood on the boards looking out at the water, as I have been toying with the topic for a while. I wanted to walk out to the water, as I did that July 4th weekend years ago, and recreate the serenity of taking off my shoes and feeling the salt water crashing against my skin.

Instead, I watched the sun set and left, recalling a story I heard last month of a man who lost a wallet 19 years ago in Corsons Inlet in Ocean City. Another man and his daughter fished the wallet from the water this past summer. Despite the ebbs and tides of the last 19 years, the wallet was still in the same location as it was when lost. It did not drift to sea; it did not disintegrate. It was always there.

It was always there.

They will always be there.