Breakups

High school students believe that one breakup is the end of the world.  It's often their first love and they just can't deal with the separation.

My friend and her boyfriend of over two years just broke up this past week.  It's been hard for her.  Everything reminds her of him.  She sincerely thought that they would end up spending their lives together.  And it's hard not to think like that when you're young.  I'm not all that shocked that he broke up with her though.  He's going off to college next week.  Granted, the school is only a twenty minute drive from where we live, but he is going to become a completely different person.

Breakups are tough.  I've gone through two of them.  There's never really a right way to handle them.  There are definitely better ways to do it than others though, and I know this from experience.

My first relationship started early in my sophomore year.  He was my one of my best friends and he was the absolute sweetest guy I've ever met.  He finally found the courage to ask me out, and then I don't know what happened really.  I guess we were just too good of friends for anything to ever really work out.  After about a month I just was honest with him during lunch and told him how I felt.  I was sad about it, but he was my first boyfriend, and I knew we weren't going to be as good of friends again.

My second relationship was a lot different.  In the second semester of my sophomore year, I began to hang out with a strange group of people in one of my classes.  I quickly became really close friends with this one guy who I would have never expected me to ever even remotely like.  But he made me feel like he could relate.  The problem with this guy was that he has severe depression, suicidal thoughts, and a drug habit.  I didn't know about any of this until I started dating him.  In fact, I had to call the cops on him in the middle of the night because he was planning to commit suicide.  The entire relationship was just emotionally draining, and I felt like I had to stay with him to keep him happy.  I know better now.  In the end we sort of just stopped talking to each other, and I finally just ended things over a text message.

I don't view either of these parts of my life in a bad light.  Yes, I could have made better choices with the second relationship, but it will always be a part of my life.  I can't just erase all the memories.  I've taken away the best memories from both relationships so I don't regret anything.  

Again, there is no good way to breakup with someone.  And there is always going to be some pain when you are in the midst of a breakup.  But definitely try to handle everything as maturely as possible.  It is not the end of the world.  Things will get better.  

Love Crosses Oceans

Once my older sister moves in two weeks, everything is going to change.  I'm finally starting to realize that I'm going to miss her a lot.  And her husband and my nephew.  It just seemed to come so quickly.  

It's going to be so strange not being able to drive twenty minutes to visit her.  If she wasn't moving across an ocean it would be a different story.  We would be able to see her every once in a while if it was only a drive away.  But no, they're moving five thousand miles away.

I almost feel sorry for her.  I know I wouldn't want to be in her shoes right now.  Yes, it is one of my biggest dreams to live abroad-anywhere but here, really.  But I would dread the nine hour plane ride with a newborn who doesn't sleep during the day.  And then to step off the plane and not have a home to call yours yet.

When my mom first started telling people that my sister was pregnant and that she was moving to Europe, people said things along the lines of, "She's taking away the grandchild!!"

Some people viewed their move as entirely negative, but it was a huge opportunity for them and hard to refuse.  I mean, who wouldn't want to live in Switzerland?  People just thought it was terrible of them to move and 'steal' away the first grandchild.  

I've just been retorting that the internet has come a long way.  And it has!  We'll be able to see them and see the progress of my nephew.  They'll be able to come visit, and we'll be able to visit them.  It's not like she's disappearing.  My mom is already planning 'FaceTime Dates' to keep in touch.

Of course it's going to be sad when she leaves, there's no denying that.  But love has this amazing ability to grow and spread out.  It's just going to be even better when we finally get to see them again.

One Month to Senior Year

So far this summer has gone by extremely quick.  I really haven't done all that much.  Everywhere I look, I see pictures of people from my school at the pool, hanging out at the lake, going on awesome vacations, and spending time with their friends.

I've hardly been able to see my friends at all this summer.  I got to hang out with my best friend in the world last week, but it was only for a few hours.  It was the first time I had seen her all summer.  And besides that, I've only gone out with my boyfriend a handful of times this summer.  This summer, I have just been staying in mostly and spending time with my sisters.

Now I can't say that has been all I've done this summer.  We took a trip-first to Missouri to visit my grandmother and uncle, and then up to Minnesota to visit all of my mom's side of the family.  I also finally got my license just last week.

With school coming in exactly one month, I've been thinking a lot about what's going to happen after this year.  It's scary to think about it.  I have no idea where I'll be going to college, and I still don't have a clue about what I want to major in.  Everything is really starting to count, and I can already feel the pressure from it.

But right now, I just want to enjoy what left I have of my summer.