The sun drives me, the wind blows me. The music soothes and inspires me. As the noise in the background drones I wonder where we went. What happened to all of us? There used to be so many of us. Now there are few. Who went where? Where are they now? I sit looking towards the east, towards the place I despise so much, but long to go back to. Strange how I can hate and love one place so much at the same time. Things were simpler., though at the time they seemed so complicated. So many good times were had that I didn’t even realize were happening at the time. Mistakes were made, people hurt. We lost a few good friends during that time, some forever, some just by relocation. We keep in touch ,some of us anyway. Lifelong friendships were forged and still survive. There are things I wish I would have done differently. If I’d known then what I know now… I’d have gotten into a lot more trouble. If I could go back and do it again, I wouldn’t. Those days, especially the hard ones, made me who I am today.
After May, we all went our ways. Some of us ended up in the same place, others far away, still others even further away. Being away from friends and family was hard, harder when we thought about them and even harder when we spoke to them. New friends were made. New discoveries made, some great, some terrible and all of them contained a life lesson. Don’t drink the night before an exam… At least not too much. Pulling an all nighter is great, until you have to go to work and you haven’t slept in 26 hours. Campus police ARE police and DO have authority. You can’t fish in the campus pond. You can’t swim in the campus pond. Discharging a fire arm inside city limits is illegal. Yes even if you are on a dairy farm. Yes it’s a farm. Yes it’s in the city limit. No you can’t fire your gun there. No, not even if the pigeons are destroying the feed. Sometimes you wake up in the bed of a pickup in the middle of the desert without any recollection of how you got there. Volkswagen engine blocks are made of magnesium. Magnesium burns very hot. Burning magnesium reacts very violently to water. If you decide to go tearing ass through the Dona Ana county desert at 1 am, make sure you have sufficient lighting on your vehicle, lest you drop your front end off a ditch and land upside down…
“And when we win this game
We'll buy a keg of booze
And drink it to the Aggies
Till we wobble in our shoes”
Some made it through 4 years, others… Well we came home and tried to figure out the new plan. We had new tools under our belts and were ready for destruction. Livin’ wild hard and free, we were legal. Working just to pay for the weekend. Fast cars. House parties. Rock and Roll living. We had made it big, or so we thought. We learned more life lessons. Street racing is illegal, yes even if it's on a deserted street at 3am. If you go to the bar parking lot at about 2:15 am you can see some good fights. If you take the seats out of your vehicle it nets you about 50 lbs in weight reduction. Less than 1/4 of a tank is light and is plenty of fuel to get you to the drag strip and about 3 passes, but not enough to get home, but it was worth it to have that 11 second slip in your hand. You can outrun a cop car, but not a radio or a helicopter. When the neighbor says he is going to call the cops because you are being too loud, he means it. Slowly we realized the consequence of our choices. Some made the adaptation necessary to maintain sanity and health quicker than others. Some never had the chance. We lost a few good friends during that time, some forever… We found out some true personalities in dire situations. We got in trouble. We made it through. Some of those decisions from that time still haunt us. They grow distant, but linger in our minds.
Somehow we made it, we grew up got married. We knew this day would come, however we had no idea how soon it would come. It felt like just yesterday when we were skipping class and driving to the outskirts of nowhere. We have careers… Not just jobs anymore, careers. We have obligation. Other people count on us for things, for their livelihood. We have to think about a lot more before making decisions. No more can we just “tie one on” just because we feel like it. We never thought when we were there we would wish we could go back.
