....2007 is ending and 2008 promises a new beginning.

As the year ends I'm reminded of hanging out with my friend Cameron in Gainesville last month.

It was one of those days, those perfect fall days in Florida. It was Florida-FSU weekend and it was everything it's always been. We grilled, we drank, we had a great time around other friends and family. After the game, we went to Gator City and played a little Golden Tee, drank a few more. I even got hit on by some chick who got turned off when I told her I graduated in 1999 (oh my god! I was just starting high school in 1999).

So after we get done with a night of celebration and fun. Cameron says "I don't want this night to end yet." So we walked through the streets and found some more people to hang out with until about 5 a.m.

For Cameron it was his last football game as a student at UF. He just received his law degree last week and he'll take the bar in March and subsequently leave Gainesville for a new life. I was there eight years ago and I understood how he felt.

We never want to move on to the next part of our lives. We always talk about it and we claim that we can't wait to go to high school and go to college and get our own apartment and get a job and get a spouse...But with each step forward we take a long last look behind. Even if its a moment in our lives we hated...we still look back with the belief that it made us a better person for going through it.

These were no such bad times, Cameron helped me extend my college years too. I always knew he would travel to games, I always knew he'd have a couch for me to pass out on. Last week he said good bye to his college years and by association, I said good bye to mine as well. I can now officially start my life as an alumnus.

I remember in 2005 when I took my Ledger Edge to the UF-FSU game. It was one of those days where so many of my great friends showed up and I remember thinking that it would probably be the last time all of us were together at the same time...it was.

It's hard to believe that last month was the last time Cameron and I will enjoy the big game and it won't be. We'll travel to games next year and hopefully for many years beyond. But they will never be the same as it was this year. Unfortunately it had to end. Fortunately it had to end. Thanks for the friendship Cameron and thanks for helping me extend my college years. These were the best of times.

Labels: Friends