That’s Our Thing!
March 12, 2023
Author: Brooke Edelman
Editor: Alexandra Vena
Every time I tap the screen of my phone, it lights up with the most perfect sight, in my opinion. I see an image of the sun setting over the lake of my summer camp from growing up. The nearly perfect reflection of the blue sky with faint yellow streaks, and orange shining on the water in the shadow of the clouds. The inflatable trampoline that so many children make some of their finest memories on sits on the lake, and I stare for as long as I can, lost in the serenity of this scene until I try to remember why I tapped my phone in the first place — to check the time? to see the date? to check my notifications?
It is so easy to get lost in that photo. This lake is part of the home that allowed me to grow into who I am now, with some of the most important people in my life. That’s our thing.
Each time I see it, I know that I am smiling at more than just a photo — that one of my best friends can see the same view, at the same time as me, across the country.
The lock screen brings an immediate smile to my face, not just because of what the picture is, but also what it has come to mean to me. And the same goes for a lot of things in my life:
“Brooklyn”- not New York, but a nickname of mine. There are few people who strictly call me Brooklyn, my dad and my best friend, specifically. If you ever call me it, I will probably tell you how special that name is for me, not because I love being called it (and I do!), but I also love the people who call me it. I’ll proceed with, “of course you can call me it too”, but at the end of the day, when I hear “Brooklyn”, I associate it : I associate Brooklyn with two of my favorite people, that’s their thing.
As time goes on and the further I am from home, the more I am reminded of the comfort of the best people in my life.
When I get into my friend's car and music is playing, she immediately hands me her phone — not for directions, but for the lyrics, because she knows I won’t know them without it. She wants me to enjoy the ride too, and honestly, they are my favorite car rides: the windows are down and we’re out of breath screaming lyrics (that I am just learning), laughing our way through the song. That’s our thing.
My favorite diner that I grew up going to each week is open late into night. In the far left corner there is a booth and that is where my friends and I always sit. It would feel wrong to sit there with my family and eat grilled cheese. That table is reserved for late night variations of cheesy fries and milkshakes, debriefing newfound memories from earlier that day. That booth in the late night diner is our thing.
The list goes on. With every thing that reminds me of a friend, there is a deeper meaning behind it. I am eternally grateful to have those things, to list a few. Important people in my life have carved themselves into my day-to-day life, unintentionally. And for that, I smile a bit more each time I tap my phone, hear the word “Brooklyn”, pull up lyrics in the passenger seat, and walk into my local diner.
So shout out to you — and our things — that make me, me.
Think about those things in your life that you wouldn’t ordinarily give your attention to. Allow yourself to feel the connection to your loved ones and the ones that live these experiences with you. It’s not about an inside joke, or a habitual part of your friendship, but the sentiment that it brings to your life without even realizing their doing so. Our things can be for everyone, but their meanings, those are meant for you!
Image: Brooke Edelman
