During my three weeks in Germany I was able to reconnect with so many good friends. It was both surprising and comforting how easily I slid back into chatting, joking around, heart-to-hearts and hanging out - almost as if we were merely catching up after the summer months.
I whizzed through Konstanz on a tight schedule, I got on a train, hopped off a train to bake cookies with my former partner in crime in the lab, hopped back on the train, went to rugby practice with my old team, hung out with former class mates at favorite Irish pub with classmates, I hung out on my old campus, laughing when people squeeled across the hallway/parking lot and running towards me "Shaaaaaaaaaannon"... it was good to be back.
I covered most of the city and saw people's new apartments, had lunch, ice-cream, dinner with various people, and finally met the husbands of some of my closest friends (yeah, really everyone is getting married).
I spent my last rainy day with some amazing friends, just talking, discussing, ranting - sharing each others lives... that night just before we said our good-byes I was laying on my friends bed just taking it all in and, the sighed and said: "I love you guys... I wish I could pack all of you in my bag and take me with you back to my island".
Before I knew it I was back on a train heading out... I usually use my train rides to download pictures off my camera, organize them as a way to "relive" the experience and process all that happened. As I reached for my backpack I realized that in the whirlwind of four very packed days I hadn't snapped a single picture. Not one.
These are the people that for three years where my "Konstanz-family". Some of the literally the first people I got to know and made friends with and connected with from the first time we introduced ourselves - other friendships matured over time, some where even people I hadn't spoke to much until my final semester.
These are the people I shared my life with, who picked me up and carried me through the rough patches, who laughed at my stories and jokes and shared their worries and joys with me.
These are the people that touched my lives in ways they (and maybe even I) don't realize. That really know me. The kind of people that I not only have a many good conversation with, who patiently waited as I put words to whatever was going around in my head, but would also sit with you in silence if there was no need to talk.
These are the people that you will see on plenty of pictures of various fun activities and crazy adventures throughout my "college days". And yet, I suppose I was so caught up in cherishing every moment during my brief visit...
I leaned back and recalled some of the conversations I'd had, sitting around in a pub exchanging stories, catching up, people riding on a bike and waving "Shaaaaaaaaannon, you're back!", laughing, bear-hugs and good byes ("see-you-laters" as I prefer to call them).
I don't need pictures. They're in my heart.
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