Remember

It was my last night. She ushers me in along with several others. 

A few are simply visiting.
Others live there.
Some (like me) simply call it home.

We watch The Lego Movie while everyone enjoys popcorn. Their middle daughter ("Middly") giggles with delight at Uni-Kitty, and then questions me afterwards about what my favorite character from the movie was. It's been so long since I just sat down and enjoyed a movie with people that I love. I'm sad to see one of my closest friends go, because there is so much that I want to talk about before I leave for college, but I tell her that we will have time later on.

And then it's just me. Me, and two people who I trust more than anyone else in this world.

By the end of a night of long conversation, I realize that it's time to say goodbye. As much as it hurts, and as much as I nearly broke down in tears on the way home, there is something that gives me strength as I give each of them a hug.

I don't have to forget.

Everyone tells me that I'll go to college, make new friends, and forget about the old ones. I'll forget where I came from and embrace the new opportunities in front of me. But I simply don't believe that. Because what I've experienced in their home was so real that it's impossible to ever forget it. 60 miles may separate my physical heart, but it will never separate my emotional heart.

I don't have to forget.

God...

Let me remember.