the mug

I'm in Chicago this weekend for the Chicago Marathon on Sunday.  I am so excited to get away for the weekend and be surrounded by friends and family.  The perfect weather is also a plus.  It's been a typical taper for me - I feel like I've gained 25 pounds and I'm incredibly emotional (for some legitimate and some not-so-legitimate reasons).  "Taper Madness" has always been a struggle for me, and I spend the couple weeks leading up to a race not feeling like myself and acting somewhat irrational.  Naturally, it's been a tough couple of weeks, even without factoring in lack of endorphins, the no running and other taper madness symptoms I've been experiencing.

So, needless to say, I'm so happy to finally be here, with the race just around the corner.   I'm staying with a couple of my best friends in the world (who are married to each other) right in the heart of the city.  You can blame the tapering, last night's late night arrival (after a very delayed flight) or just the fact that we've grown up, but there's a certain nostalgia about being here with them.  On the one hand, it feels like nothing's changed.  It's just like when we were living together in law school - the coffee is right where it should be; I know what beer I'm going to find in the fridge; and we can still make amazing meals with leftovers.  But on the other hand, everything's changed.  We're not in law school anymore, and my friends have gotten married, got a dog of their own and moved halfway across the country.  I remember 6 months ago, the night before they moved to Chicago and the marking of the end of an era, how heavy everything felt - how I thought nothing would never be the same.

As I poured myself a cup of coffee in the same mug I used to use 5 years ago in our apartment on Clarkson Street, the sadness I felt six months ago suddenly felt really far away.  Everything felt like it should, and I was struck by how true it is that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  While I'm counting the months until they move back to Colorado, I'm amazed at how the bond of a great friendship laughs in the face of distance. 

We're all under the same roof again and drinking beer at one in the afternoon.  See, nothing's really changed after all.