Ghosts

Saturday night, I went out with Julia, and I met a few ghosts. She and I share an experience of "coming back" to the College. We shared four years, various adventures and misadventures, and a graduation... and then parted ways for a year, before reuniting here again. And as a result, we meet ghosts.

She and I shared dinner and drinks and "do you remember?"s that grew into longer stories because her boyfriend was there. So every offhand comment became an explanation and led to other memories, including ones I haven't thought of in many, many months, possibly years. These memories are made more vivid by the setting. I walked past my ex-boyfriend's freshmen dorm and remembered all the Friday evenings we spent playing poker, watching Firefly, and traveling to Wawa. Julia brought up one of his hallmates who had a crush on Wendy. The conversation turned to the lines drawn in our group of friends when he and I broke up. Then to other exes among our group of friends. We laughed at the ways we've changed, at the ways our friends have grown. We cringed at the crazy things we did. And I met the ghosts of College Past.

They manifested as a peculiar reaction to a particular setting and group of people. On Monday, Julia and I were together again, eating nachos and playing trivia at the "Deli" next door to me, but no ghosts showed up. Instead, we were in an enjoyable present.