Nostalgia mixed with tears and touching, true and fitting lyrics by Stephen Schwartz.

Time for a little personal story.


The summer before 10th grade, my best friend and I were at the mall by ourselves (it was cool, we were 14, without a car and there's nothing else to do where I live) just relishing in our last days of summer. We were doing a bit of window shopping for our homecoming dresses and both found the perfect ones on the first try. After we'd accomplished that mission, we were just kind of wandering in and out of stores, trying hats on and sampling perfumes... and then we saw the Build-A-Bear. Now keep in mind that we were only 14 and Build-A-Bear was still considered an acceptable activity. We made a bear together, named her after our high school mascot and stuck her in a purple prom dress that came with a matching sash. (Coincidentally, the color of the bear's dress is almost the exact color of my prom dress from this year.)

We paid for her together and made the agreement that when we went to college, we'd cut her sash up, each take half and then give the bear to our high school choir director (we're very close to her). As I was cleaning my pigsty (really) of a room, I found her, in a closet, still in the little 'house' boxes they send them home in, perfectly preserved. It texted my best friend to make sure she remembered, and she did. We're meeting next week to cut up the sash.

For me it feels like the end of an era. When we were making the bear, college was so far away. We had barely scratched the surface of high school and all it had to offer. It's funny to look back on that time and think of how carefree we were, not even thinking about the future that wasn't so far away. It brings me to tears to think about all the fantastic people and friendships I'm leaving, even though I know college is an entirely new adventure and I'll surely meet even more awesome people and make lasting friendships.

Actually right now as I'm thinking about it, tears are streaming down my cheeks. I'm not usually a crier, but it's all sort of hitting me right now that I'm leaving all this. I'm in the process of making a CD for a few of my closest friends that represents our time together. I just can't believe I'm leaving.

For Good, from the Broadway musical Wicked
Stephen Schwartz

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

(Elphaba):
It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

(Glinda):
Because I knew you

(Both):
I have been changed for good

(Elphaba):
And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I've done you blame me for

(Glinda):
But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share

(Both):
And none of it seems to matter anymore

(Glinda):
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood

(Elphaba):
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood

(Both):
Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better

(Glinda):
And because I knew you...

(Elphaba):
Because I knew you...

(Both):
Because I knew you...
I have been changed for good...