From freshman year until the end of high school, walking home together has been a daily ritual for us, turning into something we look forward to after an exhausting day of school. Now, you may wonder why we choose to end each of our school days with time together. Well, here’s a fun fact: We live five houses away from each other, a mere 7-minute walk from the school.
Now, as seniors about to graduate, we have reflected on this wondrous daily adventure. Walking home together was an enlightening experience for our friendship, from planning cooking challenges that we never did, movies we were going to watch but never did and more stuff we said we would do but never did.
What we did during our walks also varied from day to day. Some days, we listened to music or admired odd looking trees, while other days, we walked in a comfortable silence, relishing some peace and quiet after a long school day. Our coolest tree so far has been what we call the “pineapple” tree, located on the street adjacent to Kathy’s house.
There are also certain aspects of our walk that became routine. For example, one of Saachi’s neighbors has one of the ultrasonic gopher repellent devices that blares out a high-pitch sound every time we walk by it, forcing us to cover our ears. We always manage to pass by at least one dog-walker and two senior citizens out for a stroll. One time, to our amazement, we saw a 3-year-old riding a mini Tesla.
One of our most memorable moments occurred one day when we were crossing the crosswalk on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road. Saachi, who must have been sleep-deprived or delirious at the time, saw the traffic light turn green for traffic on the busy thoroughfare, and for some reason, decided to start walking when the pedestrian light was still red. Kathy, who wasn’t thinking either, blindly followed. When we were about ⅓ of their way through the crosswalk, we were almost hit by a car and were jolted awake by two cars honking at them, our lives flashing before our eyes. That was scary. We were lucky we weren’t hurt.
Spending the past four years walking together has definitely been a highlight of our high school years, becoming a wholesome daily routine that we look forward to at the end of each school day. As we prepare to part ways and chase new paths, these memories will follow us on each walk.
