Friends That Are Family

People always told me Eugene Oregon was a magical land. Friends who had graduated were always reminiscing of the beauty that is this small little college town. They would say it was quite simply a place where life happens differently than any other city, and it’s a way of life that you’ll never live again. It’s true, nothing else will ever compare to my time spent in Eugene, but I am so lucky to say 

that the magic that is Eugene doesn’t just stay there. It follows the Ducks wherever they may go.

The other weekend, the Ducks came to my current residence for the Rose Bowl, and all of a sudden I was able to buy Duck gear at a kiosk 5 minutes from my apartment. My entire collegiate circle from the good ol’ school days in Eugene was in town, and we were going to watch our team play at a stadium close to my home. It was magical.

Spending time with this group of friends that became family to me leaves me quite literally caring less about anything else going on around me. I don’t have any artist dates with myself, and I even give up the gym for the weekend because this crew gets my all for the small period of time they are 

in town. It’s my own magical land of Eugene brought straight to my doorstep.

The second this group is together again, nothing has changed. It’s as if no time has passed since the last time we saw each other. We laugh about one another’s weird idiosyncrasies chat about where we want our lives to take us, and catch up on what happened to old boyfriends/girlfriends. It’s a family of friends who spent every waking moment together for 4 years. Then, always faster than you want it to be, real life approaches and we have to go back to our respective homes.

The depression that hits once my apartment is empty again and I have to go back to work is a low that comes in stronger than the last trip with these friends. I know that after some serious sleep and restoration of my life, I will be happy to get back into my routine of healthy eating, kickboxing and daily writing. It’s just such a tease to have these friends that became family to me over the years together again for a blissful few days, and then taken away for an unknowing amount of time.

I’ve learned that the only way to beat the low is to sleep, and to remind myself that these friends aren’t just temporary. I know that they’ve lasted this long, longer than most of my boyfriends, because of the family we created for each other during our 4 years of living away from home for the first time.

The Ducks Won The Day, and the memories that we made were unforgettable. Once again we’ve shown one another that we will always be this close, we will continue traveling to see one another, and nothings going to change what we’ve built. I am damn lucky to have friends that are family, and to have had a college experience like the one I had in the magical land of Eugene.