30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 28

Something that you miss.

See, this is tricky. Because it's not really about what I miss, but who.

I miss my friends; they're all over the place. Chicago, IL. Stillwater, OK. The Bay City/Saginaw region of MI. I've been thinking lately about how people take for granted the fact that people they care about live nearby. That is not the case for me.

But I guess if we're going to pinpoint a specific "thing," I'll go with the Controlled Burn Seminar for Young Writers, which I attended every summer as a teenager.

Liz, a friend & fellow Controlled Burn attendee, summed it up really nicely:

"It kind of feels nice to be in your element, you know? Everyone is constantly drinking coffee even though it tastes like ass... because they need to stay awake in order to finish their homework. We play pool at 1 a.m. and distract ourselves and it's just so laid back, you know? It's just a bunch of kids existing without judgment. Maybe there is judgment but it doesn't get in the way. No one cares. I love it here."

At Controlled Burn I felt, for the first time, like I really connected to people who cared about the same things I did. 2009 was its final year; it was canceled because of funding & other issues. I'm really sad that it doesn't exist anymore, because I wish more kids could have the opportunity that I had. But I'm very glad that I got to be a part of such a wonderful thing.