Dreams

Last night, I had a very meaningful conversation with a very close friend of mine. He always seems to check up on me when I most need, probably one of the most considerate, genuine people you can meet.

We spoke of friendship; we spoke of family. We spoke of the intermingling of the two.

He reminded me of the meaning of friendship. A person to share memories with. A person to share emotions with. A person to vent to. A person to escape to. A person to lean on. A person to remember.

A person to feel..."at home" with.

It struck me, the thought of feeling "at home."

Have you ever just been around someone and felt "at home?"

So often, feeling utterly lost, I worry about where to go "home" to over breaks or whenever.

Being at home is not going to the place you've lived all your life or where you're from...it's about being with the people you've loved, shared memories with, connections. Friendship and Family. Though so often, the two are intertwined. For me, being around any of my close friends feels "at home." Just being in their presence...

I've noticed that the connections I've made with people are so strong, perhaps because my family is now only my sisters and me, that I think of everyone I let close to me, as family. Or so it feels.

I've hardly ever stopped to think about it...until my friend reminded me last night that was the way he viewed his friends. Then I realized that without the friendships I've formed, including of my sisters', have become much too important, and without them, I cannot imagine where I would be right now.

Sometimes people ask me what got me through, or how I overcame everything...

it's because of all of you.  You were my escape, you were my distraction, you were my home.

I mentioned in my valedictory speech at the end of senior year that those around me had grown to be my family, and I realized why things hit me so much harder after coming here to Duke.

Rarely do I ever dream, but last night I had a dream that I was in a classroom, a classroom from high school to be specific...and the teacher had asked us all to tell the class what we wanted the most important thing in our life to be in ten years until the day we died...

My family.

Which includes my two sisters, my friends, and whatever family I may add in the next ten years...whomever I end up with, the friends I make throughout my years, and the people that advise me throughout my career.

My family.

The most important thing in my life.

No matter what happens, or where we end up, it is my family that will be my "home."