Sometimes,
there’s more than just one family
Saying goodbye to the class of 2005
By Julia Knox
I just realized that the class of
2005, which includes some of my best friends, is graduating in two weeks. This
is not a pleasant topic to think about.
So I did what I always do when I need
to avoid thinking – watch TV. On this particular afternoon I enjoyed a fine
marathon of Sex and the City: Season
Two. In between yelling at Big and realizing I am the carbon copy of Miranda, I
watched the episode “Shortcomings,” which deals with the problem of loving your
boyfriend’s family, but not really liking your boyfriend.
The episode summary isn’t very
important, as the episode won’t go down as one of the series’ most pivotal, or
even funniest or most popular episode. But it does have one of my very favorite
quotes at the end:
“The most important thing in life
is your family. There are days you love them and days you don’t, but in the end
they’re the people you always come home to...”
As I plan to visit my brother in D.C.
this summer and pick out a college graduation card for my sister and get ready
to return home for a summer with my parents, the quote rings true. My brother
and I despised each other as children but now make an effort to spend at least
a weekend together each semester (which is saying a lot, since he goes to
school in
As warm and touchy-feely as that
is, I also have a second family: my Hollins family. These are the ones who save
you from scary H-SC boys who are trying to get in your crevices, spend
all-nighters with you in Pleasants with the constant break for a Sheetz run and fuel your procrastination habit by holding The O.C. marathons on Saturday
afternoons.
These are the people I’m going to
dread leaving for three months and the seniors I am going to beg not to
graduate. While I’m super-excited about seeing my absolutely adorable puppy, a
shih-tzu doesn’t really compare to someone who will
help you and your roommate when you keep falling down that hill on the way back
from the apartments after eight glasses of wine. It will take some time to get
used to not going to El Rod’s every weekend, not constantly stopping by Apt.
105, not speaking in code with Brittany, and not being super sketchy with most
of my BFFs.
It will be hard to come back in
the fall without the class of 2005. Without Emily making me leave Pleasants to
go to Bradley with her and rolling her eyes at my latest adventure, without Vivie IM-ing me weird cat links,
without Heather and the rest of 105’s delicious punch and fabulous parties
(since Lydia is the only one who can actually remember Mardi Gras, I’ll just
have to assume from the pictures of all of us on tables that it was, in true
Gwen Stefani style, b-a-n-a-n-a-a-s). I am uber-grateful that Hollins paid Lisa to stay, and therefore
next semester will be spent in apt. 401 with the two of us (and our good pals
Jack and Jim) watching movies, listening to music (especially her favorite,
Travis Tritt) and talking about who we want to throw
out the window.
And that’s why I love the Sex and
the City quote so much. After Carrie declares the importance of family (see
above), she then sees Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte in the coffee shop window
and concludes:
“Sometimes it’s the family you’re
born into. And sometimes, it’s the family you make for yourself.”
To the rest of the class of 2005, good luck in
the real world. I’ll be back here at Hollins, praying they let me stay forever.