Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Frozen in time

Today's 100 words:

I taught many students during my years in Nebraska, and I realized today as I was thinking about that time that I hold those students in a state of suspended animation. I see them as they were then, as I knew them, and I can't imagine them as they must be now--for some, nearly fifteen years later--older and more mature and in the midst of their careers. I wonder if that's how they remember me--as I was and not as I might be. Maybe people from some parts of our lives will always be frozen in time.

2 comments:

  1. This is part of why I told my sister she needed to seize her Cambridge acceptance and move. After I moved to L.A., it was easy to see how I was confined in some ways to expectations people around me had about who I was. When I moved away, I was able to figure out for myself who I was. It's rough, to start, but it's also delightful. I'm pleased to report Rache found the same. :)

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  2. Aww, I'm happy for the both of you, Deb!

    I found that with every move I've made, I could reinvent myself--not change who I am but reinvent myself in the sense that, as you said, people don't have any expectations about me and I have no past to live up to--or live down. I agree that it's an experience both rough and delightful!

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