In Retrospect

So, a picture's worth a thousand words, eh? :-D After a long hard week, I thought I'd take some time to go back and reminisce... do a little "then-and-now" comparison. So here's a sampling of the pics I reviewed this evening:

Me and Mom visiting Nanking, China two winter breaks ago:

Me and Mom, Dec. 2003

Me and Mom in Taiwan this past Winter Break... wah, Mom got taller! (Not really - she's on her tiptoes.) And me - the chubbiness abounds since I ate on such a late schedule while on co-op:

Mom and Me, Dec. 2004

My engineering suitemates at last year's SWE Luncheon:

Suite 420 Engineers, Feb. 2004

Lindsay and Liz recently visited us in Cleveland after spending some time in the real world. :-) Here we are at Aladdins a couple of weeks ago - we all look really different, don't we?

Liz and Lindz visit, Feb. 2005

The gang at my B-day surprise shindig back in October 2003:

Group at guys old house, Oct. 2003

Most of the same folks at Bindu's baby shower earlier this month:

Group at Bindu baby shower, Feb. 2005

I was debating whether or not to put the group shots up - they brought tears to my eyes when I looked at them mainly because they were reminders of just how much we all miss Vasu. The more I thought about it, however, the more I was convinced that I should put them up. It serves as a reminder to me of just how quickly many things can change in such a short period of time and yet how many things stay the same. Look at where folks are sitting - many of you are in the same relative rows (and some of you are even in the same spots!). Yes, that's a small detail (you can probably pick out other things too) and it may/may not have something to do with your personality, but the main point here is that we are all still friends, and we were happy to be together in the moments that both of those pictures were taken. That's not the most grammatically correct way of saying it, but you know what I mean. Maybe it doesn't have the same impact on you as it does on me, but it really means a lot to me to think about these things in those moments of flashbacks that I get.

I am starting to get incoherent. Time for bed!