The Way We Were

I hung out with dear Anna yesterday. As we comb the downtown streets going into shopping malls one after the other, it suddenly dawned to me that the last time we hung out was, a year ago. How is it that we never have time for each other anymore? If you think growing up together would make a difference, you are so wrong because we are practically re-discovering each other yesterday.

As we sip cocktails in IndoChine yesterday in the dimness and exposed to very bad music, I realized it was almost midnight. A norm for me I assure you but for someone like Anna, it was alarmingly odd. For a girl who grew up in a strict family (they gave up eventually), she experienced unreasonable curfews unlike fortunate teens who were granted visas to camp outdoors and return only two days later. Perhaps I did contribute vaguely in her apparent shift in character but still, it takes a lot to re-shape the concept of it-is-ok-to-party-till-the-wee-hours in a person whose life had been carefully mould for 23 years! I missed her ridiculous spectacles and her silly curfews that made up our childhood. I missed the old Anna.

Do I enjoy the transformation? Possibly. As always the saying; we never change as we grow older, just becoming more clearly ourselves. So maybe this is really Anna under the fake Anna. And right now, I just have to re-adjust my beliefs and learn to deal with the new stranger.