Leapfrog

I think 2012 will be a good year for me.

It took until my senior year, three full years, to get good at high school,

and the fourth year of college is the only other year that can compare to the 2003-2004 school year.

Four years before that, seventh grade, I started kissing girls that year. That's pretty monumental, right? The only reason a middle schooler ever goes to a high school football game is to hold hands with or maybe kiss a girl. Seventh grade - the year I stopped being a child.

Four years before that, third grade... There was a huge fish tank in Mr. Vickery's classroom, that's pretty cool, right? Stacey Wilson and I were 'homework buddies' that year. She was the first girl I ever wanted to be around because she was cute for gender reasons. The crazy part is I think she felt the same thing. I may have started 1-for-1 in having that little extra mutual admiration with a girl, but that would not become a theme in my life for many, many more years. Third grade - the year I was no longer an asexual child.

Four years before that, six years old, right? It was a good year. I was a six year old, and there is no such thing as a bad day when you're six. Even six year olds secretly know this! I was beginning to develop some sporting abilities. Running, swimming, basketball, catch. I had pretty much learned an entire language at that point, and it was pretty clear that I was not born with any form of retardation or gross physical defects. Six years old - I had conquered the basics of being human, and was ready to seek out friends.

Four years before that, two years old, I had survived my first year on Earth, and I had survived my brief time in West Virginia. I'm happy to have moved before picking up their accent. It makes me happy when I'm on vacation, and someone asks "I could tell you were from around Michigan because of the way you speak". Two years old - I moved to Michigan, the state that I love so much that I'm having just as hard of a time moving away from its borders as I am moving away my family.

Four years after college is 2012. My grandma thinks that the world will end that year. I hope that death doesn't start to become a part of my life in 2012. The only part of me that is still a child is the part of my heart and psyche that have yet to be chiseled away by loss. Kelsey dog was the most loved thing I've lost in my life. After that, Dan Strung, and then really no one else. The six most important adults in my life and my brother are still alive, and they are the most important things in the world to me. Maybe something amazing will happen in 2012, and I want so badly for all seven of them to be healthy, happy, and with me when it does.

It took until the fourth year of high school to find my stride, and really, the same goes for college. 2012 is my fourth year post-grad, and I think it will be a good year for me.