The End Of An Era

Well, last night was the final farewell for Kris “I can’t spell his last name if my life depended on it. I think I have been pretty damn lucky to meet some really great people in my life and to be able to call them friends. Kris is off to Seattle to “not live in NJ his whole life”. He is the first to officially move out of the last bastion of college life known as 64 Dunmore. The rest shall be departing over the next few days. It’s sad when I realize that for 8 months of the year for 3 years, a good portion of my friends were all in Mercer County. Now all that soon will remain is Ian, Shanna, and myself. Maybe you’re saying “boy Ryan sure is afraid of change, look at him curl up into the fetal position”…that’s not true. I admit that I don’t like all change, but change can be great.
I went to RI for one year of college and met some great people up there that I still talk to once in awhile, then came back when I realized my college debts would be like 60,000 or more. I came to TCNJ all bitter and truly not wanting to be there at all. There was my friends up north and a girl that I had just met while living a summer at the beach. So there was some anger in going to TCNJ and leaving all behind. But this change also proved great. I have met more great people that I still hang and laugh with. I’m particularly impressed/pleased with how a good amount of my friends seem to mesh well with each other. Although no matter how hard Jon tries, Chris D just can’t seem to fit in.
Kris is leaving at another crucial moment: The Sox are battling for the playoffs, Buddy’s Shamrock Tavern is starting the Bar Olympics (personally I think this is a blatant ripoff of the Beer Olympics), complete with beer pong. We all went to are favorite hole in the wall last night when James and a bartender gave us a heads up to all the new happenings. Beer Pong, creamed corn wrestling (females only), and many others. I’ll admit after I heard the words “creamed corn wrestling” my brain just kinda stopped paying attention and started imagining. I remember when people used to talk bad about Shamrocks…but I love that bar. It’s gone from a little hole in the wall to something almost respectable. If you want to check out it’s website it’s here: http://www.buddyshamrock.com/
Sorry, I had to shamelessly plug Shamrock’s.
Anyway, at the risk of sounding sappy, I wish my friend the best in his journey to Seattle. Maybe he’ll be back, maybe he’ll stay out there, but he’ll always have friends in NJ. That and the Beer Olympics. Godspeed.