Boxes.

I witnessed a miracle.

It was a Tuesday in April. My best friend Abby was at my house. We were discussing what our prom corsages would look like for our upcoming senior prom. Abby was being typical Abby, and I was being typical Taylor. Life could not have been any better in that moment. I was about to graduate high school, and start college soon. I had the two best friends that anyone could ask for, and life was great.
I was sitting on the floor, as always, and Abby was sitting by my mom on our couch. We were laughing and carrying on as normal, until Abby turned our conversation in a complete 180. 

"You guys, I'm moving."

I was excited. They had looked at a house right around the corner from me, and I figured they were going to move into that one. I immediately asked if her mom would paint the kitchen cabinets all one color, or if she liked the two-tone look.

"No Taylor. My family is moving to Abilene, Texas."

Tears welled up in my eyes. This wasn't supposed to be happening. What was supposed to be happening was graduating high school, spending all summer together, then sending Abby off to college. Going to separate colleges was going to be tough enough, but now, she wouldn't be calling Weatherford "home" anymore. She wouldn't really have any  
reason to come back to our quaint little town at all anymore. I was devastated. 

That evening, while in the fabric section of WalMart, she broke the news to Bailey-- our other best friend. We cried, right there in the middle of the store, and we didn't care who saw us. And right before our eyes, our typical lives were turned upside down.

Even though I didn't want to, I spent the next few weeks helping Abby pack up her room and get her home ready to sell. It was tough, but at this point, I just wanted to spend time with my best friend. A couple of boxes and tears later, it was finally time to send my best friend off to Texas. It scared me. Abby's whole life was here, and now, it was packed into boxes and going elsewhere. 

Months passed. We started college.

Abby came and visited Weatherford periodically, but it just wasn't the same. We had to learn that it didn't matter where her "stuff" was at, home is where the heart is. Abby had grown up in Weatherford, just because Abby's bed and dresser resided in Texas didn't mean that Abby couldn't consider herself a "Weatherfordian" anymore. Where your memories live mean a lot more than where your sweatshirts are folded. 

Mid-April of my Freshman year, I was working in the A&R. It was a typical Friday in the office. My phone buzzed. I saw it was from Abby, so I looked to see what funny thing she could be sending me today. To my surprise, it was not funny at all. The text I had received was telling me that her dad had just taken a new job... at SWOSU. Abby's family was moving home. 

That May, Abby and her family repacked all of those boxes, and moved into a new house back home in Weatherford. Now, call me crazy, but that just doesn't happen. In normal cases, your best friend moves away, you keep in touch, then slowly you grow apart. In my case, my best friend was moving back. We joke about how crazy it is, but really... it was a miracle. A miracle that came in cardboard boxes. 

It was in a cardboard box my best friend moved her stuff to Texas, and it was in a cardboard box my best friend moved her stuff back to Oklahoma. 


Cardboard Boxes.

We shove all of our belongings in them, and move our lives to new places. As we pack them tightly, we close them up and seal them off with packing tape. Then, right before putting them into the car, we grab a thick black marker and we label what's inside. That's exactly the way I picture storing my memories in my head. Lots and Lots of cardboard boxes-- each one containing pictures of scenes from my life. I can forget things, but those memories never go anywhere. They will always be in a cardboard box in my mind, some just stay sealed up tight. Just because they remain unopened, doesn't mean they don't exist. My memories with Abby take up lots of cardboard boxes in my mind. Some good ones, and some bad. Regardless of where Abby's real boxes move to throughout her life, the ones in my mind will always be present. As I've thought about it a little more, I realized that no matter where Abby's real boxes go, I will always be able to consider her my friend because I have memories with her. They take permanent residence in my head. Regardless of where Abby's adventures take her, she and I remain friends.  

Last Saturday, Abby packed up and headed to Washington DC for an internship at a design firm for the next month. Of course I miss her like crazy, but Abby and I's friendship is deeper than where her "stuff" is at. Our heart strings don't care about miles apart. 

I know eventually I'll pack all of my stuff into boxes and start new adventures in a new town. That doesn't mean I have to forget about Weatherford and all my friends here. I have cardboard boxes in my mind that will help me remember all the things that made me... me. As for now, I'm just going to continue to pack memories into my boxes labeled "college." 

Don't forget who you are or where you came from.

Moving to a new place or new town does give you a fresh start, but don't get rid of all the memory boxes you've accumulated through the years. They are the reason you are the way you are.  

Abby recently started blogging! You can keep up to date on all of her adventures with Frozen Meals and High Heels. She's hilarious, and will totally make you laugh. And... she's single, fellas.