Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

I haven't been blogging for a little while because I found a job this summer! I'm working at my local Sweetgreen, a fast-food salad chain during the afternoons and late nights. Fortunately, despite the late hours (I sometimes don't get home until past 10:30 PM), I've still found some time to read. I just finished Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. Hannah is one of my favorite modern-day writers and I've read other works by her including The Great Alone and The Nightingale. While Firefly Lane certainly had a very different feel to it compared to the other two books, it was a delight to read.

Firefly Lane tells the story of a 30-year friendship between two girls, Tully and Kate, beginning in middle school. The entirety of the book essentially shares their life story growing up together, getting their first jobs, and their lives during adulthood. These two girls at times are complete opposites but part of what makes the story so lively is how Hannah melds together these two polarizing characters. While Tully's mother is an alcoholic and drug addict, Kate grew up in a typical nuclear family. While Tully has always dreamed of being a news reporter, Kate seeks a more humble life as an at-home mom. While Tully is always the lion in the jungle, Kate seeks pleasure through laughter, love, and family. Despite certain parts of the story rearing off into unrealistic realms, overall, I loved how Hannah played with character development. And given that the entire storyline is dedicated to unveiling a friendship, I would say Hannah quite successfully executes evoking emotion and empathy from the reader towards each character. I particularly related to moments in Tully's narrative. As a career-first work-a-holic who struggles with loneliness, I thought Hannah's descriptions of Tully's emotions, expressions, and thought processes were true to the bone. 

Another naturally intriguing facet of Firefly Lane is the fact that it tells of a friendship that spans three decades, beginning in the seventies. I thought Hannah effectively illustrates "the changing times" of each decade by describing the trendy songs, clothing, and artists of the time. She transports the reader to a time not long ago but recent enough to relate to.

Firefly Lane has a simple plot and the events that occur throughout the story are almost mundane at times, particularly when Hannah describes Kate's life as an at-home mom or Tully's life after work. The quotidian nature of the story allows readers to connect to the life experiences of Tully and Kate, who in turn show us the values and principles that we should hold true to ourselves no matter what direction life takes us. Despite their lives taking different turns after college, both remain grounded in the fundamental idea of love. While Kate finds love through her family, Tully discovers that love can be for something like her career as a news anchor. Firefly Lane is about feeling, about touching the core of what makes us human.

The journey

 "Take pride in how far you've come. Have faith in how far you can go. But don't forget the journey." -Michael Josephson

These days, it is so easy to get consumed in what I must do next, what I must do in the future, to the point where it's easy to forget how far I've come. While high school was not the smoothest of years and looking back on it, I've identified things I would have done differently, I must still remember the journey. The ups and the downs. The lessons I learned. The people I met and the friendships I've built. To be honest, it's one of those things that I could just allow to slip out the back of the mind or it's an experience I can cherish and build upon. It's been almost two weeks since I've graduated and this reality is hitting me: how I want to store my high school years in my memory is up to me. At this thought, I'm reminded greatly of the movie Inside Out where each experience that Riley undergoes is stored as a memory that lives in different parts of her brain. There are a few "core" memories. Others rest in the forefront of her mind. There's also a library of her old memories, and of course, there's the collection of memories that have been permanently erased from Riley's mind. I wonder where I will put each of the memories that compose my high school career in my mind. While the natural phenomenon of time results in the fading of most memories into the "back of my mind" type, as Josephson suggests, I think it's important that I advertently hold on to some moments of my high school experience. Two weeks into my shortest summer vacation yet, it's really just hitting me that I'm moving on in life, that I've reached a new milestone. And as I've been trying to do all along with this blog, it's important to cherish the journey. 

Liminal Space

I've been done with classes since Thursday and I'm graduating in less than 12 hours. These past 48 ish hours have been what our school calls the "liminal space," or the time between when we graduate Andover officially and when we move onto our next phases of life. 

Caught in the liminal space is surreal. Truly. Although I planned AP prep into the liminal space, I had no time to do any of it. Time has flown in the last two days. I've constantly had an event to go to or something to do.

But this liminal space is also surreal in the sense that before closure really becomes closure, we are given no choice but to reflect. On Thursday night after classes, we had community convocation or Senior-fac. It was a picnic where students asked faculty to whom they were close. This tradition represents the celebration of graduation between the faculty and students. Last night, we had a prom. Prom is a moment to spend with our friends, a time to reflect on our Andover moments together, or rather, a celebration with our friends. Tonight, we had baccalaureate, which was a spiritual moment to be in solitude with our class. The chapel lights were turned off and each senior held a lit candle up in the air.  This was a moment to celebrate and sit with ourselves. And tomorrow morning at 9 AM, we will have graduation. This is a moment to celebrate our completion of high school with our families. 

All of these events take place in the span of a liminal space of around 72 hours. It amazes me how many closures have happened so far, with our teachers, friends, ourselves, and tomorrow, with our families. And I'm so grateful to be spending time with important people in my life during this liminal space. Frankly, I'm a mix of excited and scared of what will happen once I exit this space to continue on with the next chapter of my life and in a way, I've found comfort in the liminal space, knowing that I'm on my way to completing something without having to worry about the next. But regardless of all the mixed emotions, I'm feeling right now, I must say one thing: thank you, Andover. For the highs and lows and for showing me what it means to work hard.