Really seeing Home

I come back to Traverse City to see my family. They are the world to me. But I also get to see a lot of old friends while I am here, and that is definitely an added bonus. I do learn a lot about life from looking backwards at where I have been, and seeing where life has taken everyone else too.

I went out with my oldest friend in the world last night. I have known him since we were in 4th grade cubscouts. At one point he wanted to be an art therapist and work with kids. Then he became somewhat of a Christian punk-rockstar. Now he's a jerk.

I ended up smacking him at one of the bars for using "gay" in a dergatory sense for the Nth time that evening. I really dont know if there is the possibility of a friendship between us in the future. It's so sad to me. Sadder than all the people who I think failed to escape, are the ones who did, and became something far worse. He now works for the business world, and spends his free time trying to bed women. This is a kid who used to preach "no sex until marriage" and be a very strong spiritual person. I guess I have never before seen "the fall" of a person like this in my life.

Im not a giant fan of big religions, but if nothing else they can hold one's feet to the fire. This friend of mine at one point said, "I'm not a player, Im more of a playboy, because Im all about the pleasure." I pointed out that another word for that was hedonism. All night long he proceeded to try and pick up girls all around us. Granted, he is phenominally good at it. The kid has definitely hit his stride, sexually speaking. He is no longer the scrawny, geeky kid that I grew up with. But then, neither am I.

Hopefully I am not a jerk.