The Night Before

It was a beautiful spring night and because it was the last night we would be living in that little house on the lake we had a great big goddamn party.

(Just another average night)

Why was this night different from all other nights?

On this night I told everyone that they would each be allowed to smoke one cigarette inside. I had steadfastly refused to let anyone smoke a cigarette inside the house for years. People who weren't even smokers lit up that night. Except for that it really wasn't any different from a bunch of early twenty-somethings partying. We got drunk, we got high, we jumped in the lake, we stayed up too late and I'm pretty sure that some random people hooked up too. Good times.

I mostly remember the smell of lilacs though. I was acting kinda funny that night. My on again/off again crush for Colleen was back on and I was jealous of her hanging out with anyone else. I was also nervous about leaving home and worried if my trip would be a success or failure. And I was worried about my dog scruffy staying at with my dad. Even when I was up in Duluth I had never been away for more than two or three weeks at a time and I just wasn't sure how he would handle it.

Cleaning and packing were furious that afternoon and the next morning. I thought we had done a decent job but later I learned from my mom that she was furious at the condition we had left the house in. Sorry mom, I was 21 and I did my best at the time.