FULL CIRCLE

This weekend, Kate, one of my best friends from growing up, came to visit Ann Arbor with her daughter Lucy. It is hard to believe that we were Cate's age in seventh grade when Kate and I first met and became friends 35 years ago. 

A lot has happened since then - marriage, kids, careers, and moves. In so many ways though, my friendship with Kate over the years has been a mile marker for my life and how it continues to change.

 Our friendship causes me to reflect on the young teen, the college student, the medical student, the resident, the fellow, the attending and the single person, engaged person, and married person I came to be at various stages in my life.

For some, life is traveled in a straight line. However, my life has been an arc with ups and downs and tragedy and triumph. It is easy to lose sight of that boundless trajectory when one is trapped in a narrow world view focused solely on the day's or the time's present challenges. 

It is helpful to have people in our lives who remind us how far we have travelled and who we were before life shaped and re-shaped us time and time again. I hope you have people like that in your life - your friends, your spouse, or maybe your kids. We are the truly sum of our experiences with them. If we are lucky, we will continue to make memories and history with them as our lives come full circle, and we will never forget how fortunate we are to have them in our lives.