CrossingsCon was an amazing experience. I did so many fun things and new things and adult things. But without you all there, it would only have been a long, exciting but tiring trip to New York City. Cousins, we are what made the con: all of us with our myriad differences coming together to celebrate one major similarity – our love of Young Wizards – and the way that engendered others – our love of life, our jokes, our tastes, our personal philosophies, our respect for each other and everyone else.
It was so incredible to meet so many new-old friends, and an immense privilege to exist, in the immediate physical sense of the word, with all of you. Now, with the distance of miles and miles between us once more, it is so comforting to know, to know that you are still out there, and that our influence on each other will only continue and strengthen going forward. We are each changed by every person we touch, and I am so glad to have been changed, undeniably for the better, by each of you.
Friends, I miss you. I miss hearing your voices and seeing your facial expressions and gestures when you talked, and hearing you say ‘uh’ and ‘like’ and other such things that don’t usually make it into texts or Skype chats or posts or what-have-you. I miss being able to hug you and laugh with you and take photos with you and sit comfortably with you in silence. In a few notable cases, I miss being able to look over and see that you were sleeping comfortably before I resumed what I was doing. I miss smalltalking with you, of all things. I miss having you all only a few miles, at most, away. I miss you, and I’m sure that, because this is how such things work, at least a few of you also miss me.
But we are not alone, despite this. We weren’t before, and we certainly aren’t now. I hope you know that, and that the con reminded you of this the way it reminded me. We are still cousins, and the con was not the end of us. There is texting and Skype and Tumblr and Facebook and the forums and probably a few other forms of communication I’ve forgotten, and I know we’ll all meet each other again. That’s how family works.
Here’s to all of us, a huge and good and powerful something. And here’s to all of us together: something more than we are apart.
I love you all. <3
