Most people can agree with the idea that everything changes. It is
not easy to notice what that really means. It means that you change
and I change. It means that we aren't exactly the people we were
yesterday at this time, much less the people we were in elementary
school or when I first wrote to you. We know that most of the changes
don't make much difference, at least by themselves. But if we have
good journals and photos, we can see that we are heavier now. We may
be willing to eat broccoli now instead of refusing as we used to.
But that steady change affects other things, too. If you are still my
friend and I am still your friend, we each have a different friend
from what we had ten years ago. That is ok, which is good, since it
is inevitable and unstoppable. We have always lived in steady change
and we have never experienced life without change. When something
happens that we don't like, we can resent the change and resist it.
We may try to remember what things were like before the unpleasant
change but normally we can't do a very complete job of that
remembering. I can remember that you didn't use to have that haircut
but I am not exactly sure what it was before. I do know that I have
decided I don't like your new haircut. I didn't used to dislike your
haircut. I wish you hadn't changed things.
I hope I can remember to dislike your haircut since I have decided I
don't like it. I hope I don't forget and become used to the new do
and start to think it is ok. I hope my opinion doesn't change.
