I traveled back in time today, and it was an interesting experience. I've driven through Irmo numerous times, but today felt different. It was almost the feeling I would imagine you'd get right before you die...like your whole life is flashing before you in slow motion and all you can do is watch and wait. You can't change anything, you can't go back, you can just watch. Watch and hope that what lies up ahead is better than what you're leaving behind. First I pulled out of the Crestmont, where I spent one of the best years of my life. It was shortly after my parents' divorce and I lived there with my dad until I left for college. It was where I spent the last few months of my childhood. As I turned onto Harbison, I began my journey across the timeline of the last couple of years. I passed the mall, where I've spent several weekends with several different people looking for several different things. Then I passed Ruby Tuesday. It was there that I met some of the most amazing people I will ever know. The years that I spent working there defined my life during that time. I came to consider those people my family. I passed Chick-fil-a, where I once confessed my attraction to an ex. I passed Ale House, Monterrey, Texas Roadhouse...just a few of the places where my friends and I hung out. It seemed that each building and each street had a story to go along with it. A story that I could reach out for, but could not quite grasp. Not only was this because those days are in the past, but the characters in the story are no longer living. Sure, the actors and actresses are still among us, but as different people completely. Just as Katherine Heigl has almost no true resemblance to Izzie Stephens, I have almost no resemblance to that girl I saw in the windows of all those buildings. It is strange how years of my life can seem so intangible just a year or so later. Even though I can't and don't ever want to go back to those days, they are still fond memories that I will hang onto until it really is time to move onto eternity. For if you're not changing, you're not learning; and if you're not learning, you're not growing. I am not discomforted by the amount of change. I am comforted because that change has allowed me to grow.