I am going to keep using Jami Attenberg’s prompts for this blog; otherwise, I might never write anything. If you are new here, I have been blogging since 2003!

Here is the prompt from her newsletter #1000wordsofsummer:

Start with remembering someone you’ve lost track of. Do some real work on it, think about how you knew them, what they looked like, and what they meant to you. How did they disappear from your life? When was the last time you saw them? Write down everything you can recall.

Continue with imagining where they are now and what you think their life is like. What do you imagine they’re doing, eating, wearing? Where are they living? What does their house look like? If they walked right through your front door right now, what would you say to them if you saw them? What would it feel like to embrace them?

And finally, let’s think about the future, and where you think that person will end up? Let’s think about them when they’re old, older than they are now, sitting on a park bench somewhere, relaxing. What does their skin look like? Think about having a meal with them when you’re both older. Think about what they’ve learned, what you’ve learned. What you’d be willing to share with them or what secrets you would keep for themself? And, if you can, think about this futuristic environment a bit, if you can let your imagination roam there.

A person I’ve lost track of is my middle school friend Emma, who was one year older than me, and we rode at the same riding farm in New Plymouth, NZ. I say riding farm because it wasn’t a school exactly. You got to be matched with a pony and keep riding that one until you were ready for a new one. Soon, though, my family got me my own pony and I grazed it next door to the riding farm.

She had blonde hair and blue eyes and was so funny and witty. And she went to a Catholic school I think and rebelled against that. She disappeared from my life because I moved towns. I lived in five towns by the time I finished high school. It was hard to keep in touch with people in the busyness of trying to make new friends and stay afloat in the teen world.

I can’t decide if she would still be in New Plymouth or moved, like many people in NZ too. I’m going to say she is still in the Taranaki area, on a farm, with three kids, and many dogs and many many horses. And she’s a riding instructor and also graphic designer or something creative.

If she wwalked in the door, I would squeal and hug her! We have soooo many funny memories we could catch up on. We were a but naughty, but she wasn’t the friend who really led me astray. That was a girl called Melana who was my year at school and moved to my school mid-year from across town. (I had also moved to the school mid-year the previous year, from across country!).

New Zealand sun is harsh so I hope she’s using good sunscreen and products so when she is an old lady, she still looks pretty and at ease and is able to march around her paddocks in her gum boots (rubber rain boots) or riding boots, shooting rabbits for dinner.

I too am sun damaged by still upright. I share that I was able to give my son the gift of growing up in one town, and how they made his life so different from mine, in good ways, but also that I gained a few things from moving so much, like a chameleon confidence that is half real and half an act.

I hope in the future, green paddocks and riding farms and schools still exist, though I wouldn’t be surprised if the land right in town has been covered in houses. and they are pushed to the country. It was incredible to ride in the city in New Plymouth and even in Auckland. The Auckland land has already been reallocated. I hope she had kids if she wanted them, or didn’t have kids if she didn’t want them. I hope she met kind men. I hope she achieved some or all of her dreams.