The Village (no, not the movie)

[tinky_toes]

I took a walk around my Village today, the gated community that has been my home my entire life. I passed my neighbor, Daniel W., unnoticed and without saying hello. Daniel W, Sarah D, Courtney M, Dan M, Christopher F and Chris B where all my childhood Village friends. We were all bright, happy kids and I share fond memories with them, including selling lemonade under the pretense of sharing our profits with the homeless, riding on the back of the mailtruck, "bowling for buzzards" by chucking helmets at each other on roller blades, hitting a baseball smack into a neighbor's window and then fleeing the scene whilst leaving my little sister behind (all on accident). Things are different now. We grew apart. We grew up. Sarah, my best friend, moved away and I will never see her again. Daniel developed a problem of sorts that prevented him from going to Costa, and as I understand it, chose to immerse himself in computer activities (not entirely legal activities). Courtney was another best friend of mine with whom I grew apart over time, she was two years younger than I and I still remember when she developed suicidal depression at the age of 9 ... I was a witness to an attempt. She moved to another part of the village, perhaps I'll visit her some time. Christopher F ended up going to private schools all his life as opposed to Meadows, MBMS, and Costa like the rest of us. We lost touch, although I believe he goes to LMU. Dan goes to college somewhere on the east coast, I think, and Chris goes to UCLA. It's sad. When we were little we were all very close because we conveniently lived close together. As we got older, we developed unique personalities and thus diverged from our friendships. ...Anyway, I was thinking about this on the walk after I passed Daniel. It's just wierd, walking by an old friend and recognizing him only because he's in front of his house ... and not finding it appropriate to say hello.

I'm sorry this entry is so grammatically awkward, but I don't feel motivated to flower it up this time. I guess the point of my ponderation is that I miss being little and innocent and having little and innocent friends. I miss everything and everyone being good. When my biggest fears involved fictitious movie characters. You know?