There comes a time in your life when you stop for a moment to take a breathe...and that breathe takes too long and you just stop. You stop moving forward. You look around at the landscape of your life and maybe really see it for the first time, like climbing a peak and then finally realizing the vista you have around you. The best part, or maybe the scariest, is when you turn around and look down the road you've traveled. Well, not just look, but examine closely. Your eyes scan the road to events, people, places, memories..the road. You remember that one summer with a friend that you'd long forgotten. A memory of how you felt standing in front of your locker in the seventh grade with all your friends around. The feeling you got when you held a certain girls hand. The smell of the popcorn and the sounds of announcers on loudspeakers and all the laughter and voices at the state fair. The exhilaration of cheering your high school football team to victory. What was I thinking way back then? What did I feel? Is this the right road? Reading through signatures in a yearbook brings warm feelings to me. I remember me, who I used to be. The smiles, the laughter, the jokes, the friends. I certainly miss the friends. It's so easy to lose track of people. The mortgage and groceries become more important. It's a sad state of affairs. How did I lose it? Was it marriage? ..or the first kid? ..or the first house? ..or the first "real" job? There's no telling when it happened. To those still on that road, the road that's still young, take the time to enjoy the people around you. None of the memories matter without the people. I miss so many of them now..or rather maybe I just miss those seemingly effortless friendships we all shared without the burdens that now weigh me down.