My middle school boyfriend messaged me today

Yeah. So I’ve really been going back and forth with my Substack concept. Niche. Readers for whom I will write. But, whatever. I don’t mean to be flip, but really, why I want to be here is because I like putting words on a page and through various channels have learned that people like to read what I write.

I loved blogging, so I’m dragging my old blog name into this space.

A couple of months ago, when I felt like the ink had dried, I put on my facebook page a simple question: Are you my audience? Give me a topic and I’ll write something about it. Wow. What a mirror. I wrote what was requested of me, even when it felt raw and hard and took me back to places I no longer want to go.

So yeah. Right now I am on a camp-cation. I spend my week days out of town (I live in Seattle) in a little town called Anacortes. I have been posting daily photos of the natural beauty of my adventure. Simple enough. Just sharing the beauty all around me. Just trying to inspire.

Yeah, so, this morning I had a DM from the boy I first kissed, first held hands with, all so innocently long ago. We also used to, when we were 14, take his dad’s moving company van out for a drive when his parents were at the tavern on Friday nights.

I am still friends with most of the people I grew up with. We had a drama-free adolescence, a strong bond, and formed life-long friendships. And let me give you the time-line—I am talking about friends I met in 1974, 1975. We are old now; adolescence has turned 60.

So, my middle school boyfriend messaged me to say how much he has been enjoying my pictures out in nature and how they, “Make one think of things more than today.”

His words have hung in there with me all day. Kindness, check. Sincerity, check. Refreshing, check. His words made me think that I can get across a message through my personal experience—and what I mean here is that I want to get across a message about people being part of nature, and it seems that sharing experiential images are doing just that.

Mostly I was reminded of the importance of friendship. Of the influence we have on one another. He and I were the smart kids in our group, the ones who liked school and were destined for college. That said, there wasn’t a dumb one in our bunch—it’s just that we were seen by teachers and parents as being in that lane. He and I were the athletes in our group (he stuck with it, I didn’t).

And I thought about what it means to be focused on a passion at that age (running, his way) or to simply socially engage (swimming, my way) and how one stacks habits and opportunities.

And I thought about what kids today are missing out on—the fun, the memories, the friendships.

And I thought about how nicely written and grammatically correct his message was. Because I am a nerd like that. And that I also know he will comment on my posts about running, like this one, entitled “Camping life. Girl got new (running) shoes.”