I've recently been musing about how sometimes the world meets me "exactly where I need it" — the train stops so the doors align with where I'm standing, the walk sign comes on as soon as I approach.
But I think what is more frequent and beautiful is the people around me taking the time and effort to meet me exactly where I want them. I live 25 miles away from my school and all my friends, and it is constantly an inconvenience to meet. And yet I have friends who will walk 50 minutes to the station to meet me. I have a friend who will drive me those 25 miles home after a newspaper production night, because I am grounded and my parents would not have allowed me any other outing. I have a friend who will drive us to a graduation in Cupertino and attend with me, despite not knowing anyone there. My friends walk, drive, take the train, the bus, and I do the same for them. It's always about making time and space for one another when, as teenagers, it feels like we don't have enough time or enough space. My friends and I will never stumble upon one another by coincidence; geography does not allow us the spontaneity I think so many of us crave. Twenty-five miles away, love shows up in logistics.Â
There's this Confucius saying that, in English, roughly translates to: "To have friends come from afar is such a joy, is it not?" For the past four years, it seemed like traveling the distance was always a given. I've never considered acts of service to be a love language I particularly identify with — that was something I associated with parents and in my case, their inability to properly express their care in any other way. And yet it shows up again and again. In my mother's waiting three hours at school for me to finish my newspaper activities. In sleepovers at my sister’s, even when she's busy at work, and in my dad's insistence on driving me to and home from school when it's too early or too late. There is a lot of love to be found in the passenger seat.Â
Logistics have been both a barrier to love and a vessel for it, and I know that in the fall, when I'm 3,000 miles away, it'll skew more toward the former. But I don't think that'll stop the people in my life from showing up anyway — it'll just be in different ways.Â
Emma Shen is a senior at Aragon High School in San Mateo. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.