Memories That Come Full Circle

You probably look at highway signs and don’t even think to take a second peek. Highway 85 North to Mountain View? Seen it a ton of times. Highway 17 to Santa Cruz? Everyone knows that. For whatever reason, venturing through the mysterious realm that is the Pacific Northwest, a particular highway sign caught my attention. On the familiar green background you see with highway signs, I read “Interstate 405 North, Everett”.

If you’ve never been to either Seattle or Bellevue, 405 runs north-south through what’s known as Eastside, the area east of Seattle which is home to Bellevue (Microsoft Land), Redmond (Michael Davisson Land), and a host of other cities and towns that are part of the Seattle area (but not really if you ask Seattle natives). Seeing that sign brought back some memories; memories which reflect a lot more about the people they involve compared to what I originally thought at the time.

The summer after freshman year was the first time I visited Seattle after I had learned about the Washington presence at Santa Clara. One of my brothers works at Amazon, so every time I go to Seattle, I visit him. This time, I tried to incorporate visiting some of my Washington friends and memories from two of these hangouts came back to me seeing the Interstate 405 sign.

I flew into Sea-Tac Airport on Tuesday morning, early enough where I had to get up at 5 AM to make my flight in the first place. That same day, I was immediately going to spend time with one of my Washington friends. You see, I met this guy on the Search retreat 3 years ago, Robbie Waddell, and he offered to hang out with me the same day I flew in. Driving all the way from Bellevue (or Yarrow Point if I want to be super specific) to pick me up, Robbie gave me a basic lowdown of Eastside.  He took me to one of the local burger places, Burgermaster, and proceeded to drive me to one of his favorite places, Kirkland, eating lunch by the water and sharing conversation. Later he welcomed me into his home and we got to share even more conversation. I also learned that day about the aesthetic appeal of a tree which partially blocks the view of the lake. Robbie’s welcoming me with open arms speaks to his character. I was so happy inside about this friend who brought me in and showed me the joy of his world. 3 years later, this quality of Robbie hasn’t changed at all. He’s still the type of guy who you could randomly go up to and have meaningful conversation with on the first hangout. Seeing that sign rekindled that memory in my head, and I feel all the better for revisiting it.

Five days later on Sunday, I had plans to hang out with Marie Adams, who was the first friend I made at Santa Clara. This is where the “Everett” part of the sign comes in. Marie hails from Everett, which is approximately an hour north of Seattle. Upon seeing the sign and letting it marinate in my head, I started remembering the circumstances of how this hangout time came together. First of all, Marie was working at a CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) camp that summer, which in short meant she only had 1 free day per week. Second, she had to drive down an hour to meet with me. Third, this involved driving through downtown Seattle (let’s just say it’s something most people wouldn’t want to do). And the fourth thing, I really wanted to visit Gameworks, a big arcade, but I didn’t want to go alone.

Marie’s loyalty is one of her best traits; if you trust her with something, she will not let you down. She chose to spend her day with me. She put aside time to drive an hour just to meet with me. She dealt with the difficulty of driving me through downtown Seattle and much to my surprise, she was quite more than willing to accompany me to Gameworks. While my only specific memory of Gameworks was getting my butt kicked at air hockey; the fact that she was so receptive to accompanying me spoke volumes. The effort she put into spending time with me made me feel important and speaks to the person she is: someone who gives a lot of time, love, and care into the people she cares about. It did take 2 ½ years to reawaken this memory but next time I want to illustrate Marie’s loyalty, I really want to come back to this example because I can’t think of many better personal stories that make her loyalty come to life.

I grant that’s a ton of story but I’ll leave with this. It’s funny how a simple highway sign triggered hidden memories within me; memories that have come full-circle. Robbie is still the welcoming character that I came to know and love. Marie is still the unfailingly loyal friend for me. I’ve had those memories within me and it took a random highway sign to revisit them. Now, it’s time for me to let those memories come alive and to share them with other people.