Speaking of: Middle School and High School Friends

I'm extremely proud that I have kept in touch with as many classmates and teachers from middle school and high school as I have. A lot of people write-off those periods as a cringey time not worth revisiting. But as I get older, the value I get from those relationships has only grown, and the friendship dynamic has moved far beyond a time capsule of the people we used to be and instead has become a recommitment to the people we are now. There's a toxicity in pretending the people you meet in middle and high school are the only friends you'll ever need, but you also can't build the second and third floors of a building if the first floor isn't still fully intact.