We met just after 9am on a cold morning, two days after Christmas.  We drank coffee while facing a window that overlooked the quiet street.  We chatted about our holidays and the driving conditions and then finally, the question came up…

“So, how long has it actually been?”

Nearly twenty-years.  That’s what we calculated.

It had been nearly twenty years since Christine and I had last seen each other.  And not far from this very same spot.

Christine and I went to high school together two blocks from where we were sitting.  It felt so long ago and yet, all the while, as we looked out towards the park on the other side of the street…it felt like very little had changed.

Now, we were simply making different decisions; choosing spouses, buying homes, having children.  But we didn’t feel that different.

There is something comforting about knowing that you can find your place again.  Even in old lives and old memories.  It’s nice to know that you can sit down together – twenty years later – and pick up where you left off.  It’s nice to know that life will only progress as quickly as you let it; that we can still hold on to certain pieces and slow them down a little bit.

On this particular day, I got to meet Christine’s fiance who proposed while they were in Europe.  I got to hear about the beautiful baby boy they are expecting.  I got to see photos of the new home they are moving into soon.

I got to hear all about the future, while feeling immersed in the past.

And then we went out to take some photos…so that we wouldn’t forget the present!