As another year passes, May slowly turns to June, the birds chirp earlier, the days get longer, and the summer sun begins to peek through the cloudy rain of spring. Only a year ago things were so different. The thrill of high school slowly coming to its end, and the excitement of college awaits every senior sitting in those tiny classrooms each getting warmer as the days go on. Now as I return to my hometown after 9 months of creating a new home, there is no explanation to the stale feeling in the early summer air.

The people I had once called my friends don’t seem to stay in touch, as if every time we exchanged an “I’m gunna miss you” there is an awkward pause between the response. Each person, boy or girl, had also moved on and created a new home in their own respective schools and there is no fault in that, just pity. I pity those who forgot their roots and those who made them who they are. I pity those who are ashamed of the past they keep here, and I pity the fool that is scared to reach out to their supposed “friends”. We are all at fault in the grand scheme of things and there is not one singular person to blame. I too am guilty of waiting for the hopeful “let’s hangout” or “I miss you” text, but in the end those who truly want to see you, will make time.

As a senior in high school I never thought this would be how my first summer back would happen. I denied the thought that my friends, the people I had grown up with, would turn their back on me so suddenly. I was naive and I didn’t understand that everyone else was also changing and the same rate I was, and that it was okay. I thought we would continue the shenanigans we had started in the previous summer, and create new exciting memories.

Now as the summer days pass and we all continue to grow, it is most important that we don’t lose sight of those who made us who we are. It is okay that they may not be around anymore, or that new people have taken their place, but it is critical that we remain civil in our approach to maintain balance. High school is nothing but that and there is no need to have it last longer than it needs to. Do not shame those who helped rebuild you when you are lowest, and pushed you to newer heights, for those are the individuals that tied the final stitches on your heart.