Time marches on

This week I was on staycation. Great, right? Not when you're sick the whole time. Sunday took an hour and a half nap after laying on the couch and watching tv for a few hours because I was so tired. And that was after sleeping for 12 hours the night before. Anyways, needless to say I didn't go out and do anything. I was too tired to read, too tired to try and do any beading project, so I watched tv and movies and layed on the couch. Finally I was starting to feel better on Wednesday. Well, well enough to drive out to see my mom for about an hour and then drive home. Thursday I drove out and had lunch with my sister. Yep. Those were the highlights of my vacation. Mmm hmm.

Ironically the point of this blog wasn't to tell you that I was sick. The point is this:

When I drove out to see my mom on Wednesday, I went past one of my old stomping grounds.... a coffee shop. It's an independently owned one, not a chain. While it wasn't a place a frequented in high school, it was most certainly one that I frequented in my early adult years. When I moved out and into an apartment for the first time, this coffee shop was within walking distance for me. It was maybe three blocks away? Sometimes I walked there, but most of my visits to it were at night time so I'd drive. I never ordered an actual coffee drink from there. I usually got hot chocolate or a lime Italian soda. I would go there often after Thursday night bible study, or on a Friday night when I had no other place to be. Sometimes I would go there and just sit at a table and write in my notebook. Other times I'd run into people and we'd all sit together and just talk. It was the one place where you knew you'd see an eclectic group of people. And it was a popular site... so popular that in order to prevent straight up loitering, you'd have to order something every two hours. They'd give you a stamped ticket every time you ordered and on busy nights they'd go around and check. You'd have the goths and skaters outside for the most part. They'd be outside in the patio just hanging out and smoking or just chillin with their cups of java. I can say I've sat outside with my friends from that clique. I've sat inside with my bible study buddies. I've met strangers there whom I still occasionally talk to (or used to up until the last few years). So many memories remain in those walls of that building, and as I drove by it the other day a bit of melancholy fell over me as I saw that the name had changed. I didn't bother stopping to go inside and see the place. Perhaps I'll do that another day. It just made me realize that with that name change, so went another change in life. 10-13 years later and the place is different and so am I. I suppose in some regards I'm still doing the same thing - working, putting a roof over my head, talking with friends. I'm still living my life. But I'm in such another space as far as how now I'm REALLY an adult. Technically I was back then, but I was still trying to figure out who I was as a person. I was learning to broaden my horizons and think about the big picture of life and wonder how I was going to fall into my place. Now I'm in my place and I (for the most part) know who I am and what I stand for. Time moves on, people move on, names change. I'm so grateful for the wonderful memories though.