During the weekend, I ventured back home and saw The Woman in Black. Not only was it one of the top three scariest movies I have ever seen, but also I started crying in the middle because I was so scared. Luckily, I was with four of my awesome girlfriends from home, so I wasn’t really embarrassed as much as I was terrified. After the movie we said our goodbyes and drove our separate ways, uncertain of when we will all be together again.
I come from a small town some of you may know of — Maineville, Ohio. It is on the outskirts of Cincinnati. In the town, everyone knows everyone else. You cannot go anywhere within 15 miles without saying “hi” to someone you know. Inside this town, I have developed some pretty close friendships that have been extremely hard to leave behind. Every goodbye feels like I will never see them again.
I have learned that with distance comes truth: the truth of who your true friends really are — the answer being the ones who are willing to work at a long-distance friendship.
It isn’t easy trying to balance school, play, friends at Ohio University and friends back home. I know I have drifted from many great friends, and I don’t necessarily regret it as much as I resent it. I promised myself it would never happen, and it gradually has become harder and harder for me to keep my Skype date promise with so-and-so, or to remember to call my other friend at the end of the week to update her.
Sitting in the movie theater shaking because I was so scared, I realized how no matter what, those girls would always be close to me. Distance takes a toll, but it also defines what type of friend, sibling, kid or boyfriend/girlfriend you are.
Giving up on your old friends just because you have made new ones is a mistake. The people you grow up with are the people who have shaped you into who you are now, whether you like it or not. I’m not saying you have to forever remain attached to your hometown and your friends from home. I’m not saying you have to even like those people. For a few, completely leaving home behind and starting their own lives and meeting new people is truly the right thing to do. For most of us though, we need to remember to keep in touch.
The friends and family you leave behind are important. Find time to call your parents or whoever raised you and just talk. It doesn’t matter what is being said as long as you are talking. The fact that you call reminds them you care. Everyone wants to feel loved, and whether you are a freshman or a senior, your guardian(s) will always love you and want to know how you are doing. Never forget to ask about them as well, because someone who speaks but doesn’t listen never gets very far in life.
Friends are important. Since I have been at OU, I haven’t wanted to make any new ones, just because my old friends are going to be really hard to substitute or compete with. I have never met greater people; not just in my group of friends, but in my family, too.
I have realized that the time has now come when I must figure out what is in store for myself at OU and not just in Maineville. I plan on taking those old memories along the journey to share and, hopefully one day, to introduce the old memories to the new ones.
Meagan Dixon is a freshman studying journalism and columnist for The Post. Struggling with friendships away from home? Email her at md138610@ohiou.edu.
