(featuring some pictures from my Rome adventures)
I also want to apologize from my little hiatus from blogging, I have been feeling lost regarding what to write about. I have gotten such heartwarming feedback about my posts that I fell victim to the pressure to make sure the next thing I write is more interesting and better than the last. But when I think back on the last couple of weeks, my memories are centered on the people I was with rather than what we actually did together. A couple of weeks back a bunch of my family came to visit me from home. A few weeks after, I spent the weekend in Barcelona with friends of a friend who I connected with over Facebook and I felt part of the family in just two days to the point where I felt bad for leaving. And lastly, this weekend I visited my best friends from home studying in Rome and we just were laying around enjoying each others company.
The point I am making is that I have been having a great time in Milan doing my own thing, but nothing feels better than being able to share those moments with other people that I care about. And the more I think about my time here, the more I think about how I wouldn’t be here without the people of my fam.
I think it is necessary that I define my certain meaning of “fam” because due to its colloquial origins I think it some of its depth can be loss. Your fam is made up of the people you draw energy and clarity from. It’s not necessary for every member to know each other, but rather each person know a piece of you (or even you entirely) to the core and brings a certain quality that magnifies it. You may talk to them every day. You may talk to them only when it’s necessary.
But you never doubt that they are fam, and if you do, then they are probably are just "a friend".
I want to take a moment to introduce the vital members of my fam because they are the one’s who have kept me from letting myself get in the way of my future through love and brutal honesty. There are definitely many more on this list, but I think these few individuals deserve some recognition because they have experienced a few extra doses of Asia. For each person I put our first encounters to show that you really have no idea how or when you will find your people. And for the one’s where we couldn’t remember how we met, I put down the first time they realized that they probably couldn’t get rid of me any time soon.
Special shout out to Nicole Keller though, she offered to write my biography and that is the best compliment and support I have ever gotten.
NATHAN | Both eleven years old at an ice rink and I told his friend to tell him I thought he was cute so he introduced us. |
GABBY | Introduced by a mutual friend who thought we were both sad and that we could cope together. “I knew it was real when you gave me oreo fudge balls for Christmas and I knew you only gave them to people who were deserving of your love” |
ALEJANDRO | At an invite-only brunch where I complimented your shirt and you didn’t hear me and thought that something was wrong with what you were wearing. |
LAUREN | “I was sitting across from you in middle school in the cafeteria and remember thinking ‘I don’t know her right now but think I am going to’” |
AVA | You were the only one who responded to my email ad looking for friends interested in fashion at school. |
ALEX | I asked if you were up for sitting next to me on a 9-hour bus ride to Boston. |
MEGHAN | “Meghan, I love you. And I love your eyebrows, but they need to be fixed” |
NICO | I refused to sit next to you but I couldn’t think of any other place to go, so I did and you ordered a complete tea set because you noticed I was drinking tea. |
In my last blog post I reminded you to do you, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a solo thing. It's more than just being able to have the story in the end—the story only becomes memorable because of those you live it with.