The Big Chill

During my freshman year of college, an old high school buddy dragged me to see a rerelease of the movie the Big Chill. To this day, it remains one of my all-time favorite movies.

The Big Chill is a U of M story - it directly references Michigan football, Ann Arbor and other facets of U of M life that I profoundly miss.

And in some ways it encapsulates my friendships. Only, over the years, what I saw as my role has changed. First, I was Alex, the suicide victim (originally supposed to be played as a corpse by Kevin Costner). Then I was Nick. No longer. First of all, I'm really not a Vietnam vet, and I'm not impotent. Still, there's so much of my friendships in this movie.

Part of me has been hoping since I first saw this movie that I'd never be in this situation. That I'd never have to see how my friends' lives had changed, that I'd never have to go to a friend's funeral. Today, I see it more objectively. I know we're all going to change. And for the most part, it's for the better. And someone will die, and we'll get over it, and grow stronger because of it. Some of us will grow distant. Some of us will grow closer. And whatever happens, we'll always have Ann Arbor.