Day 17: Nostalgia.

Funny that you mention memories, my dear 30 days, on account of I have been feeling exceptionally nostalgic lately. I have these memories in snapshots. I don't see the whole scene, I see the best part. The picturesque moment that was never caught on camera.

Snapshot: Harli and I sitting on the table at Bearpaw lodge eating nachos. This was before boyfriends but after dollhouse and Regan's leukemia. We were old enough to ski alone. We were not yet pretty. But we were young, and that, in my opinion, is better.

Snapshot: His family standing in our doorway right after we moved in. He looked like Harry Potter. This was (obviously) before I asked him to Sadie's, which we shall be attending in 12 days.

Snapshot: My dad lifting Sophie over her first birthday cake. I stood next to them. This was before camera phones and texting and the reign of Steve Jobs and possibly even before electricity, though I'm not entirely sure.

Snapshot: Standing in the soccer field at Cedar Ridge Elementary with Sarah and Ashley singing that "Miracles Happen" song from Princess Diaries. Just because we could. This was before drama but after the pickle sisters.

Snapshot: First day of ninth grade feeling like I could do anything, Dawson complementing my hair and the thought, "You know my name?" hanging above my head. This was after I became Mme Asay's favorite student, but before I became friends with Dawson.

Snapshot: Lying on the hill with Hannah in the summer air. Breathing. After Josh left. Before the break up. In the middle of everything else.

Snapshot: SMUG at Noah's, my head thrown back, shorts too short, hair left unkept, converse sneakers untied, laughing at Jake Barton. Collin White pouring over the music trying to kick me out of his DJing room, but failing. This was in the midst of Katie's grounding, after meeting Avery, before J&K fell in love, and very nearly summer.

Snapshot: Reading the nicest note Katie's ever written to me at the lunch table. This was after our soul-sister-ship had been established, after she'd met Jake, and before we were torn apart due to some lines on a map.

Snapshot: Sitting across from him in a hot tub taking about the future, wet hair, no trace of make-up. Knowing I liked him. This was before I cared about his girlfriend, before I knew him, really. This was after taxes, but everything is after taxes. Taxes came even before stew. (Who caught the literary reference there? You should've. Avery. Kaitlyn. Collin.)

Snapshot: His hand in mine.

Remember?

All my love,

Addy.