I felt like England was just a dream. For the majority of my time back in the US, the memories I had of England seemed to slip between the cracks of my mind. I had feelings there, I had people there, I had beautiful thoughts there. All of that seemed gone in what was a state of frenzy and panic, my present self back at UCLA fighting to stay afloat in this foreign yet all too familiar landscape.
But with technology (this blessing and a curse which I've discussed quite often with people) I've slowly revived or maintained the relationships I had in England. With Skype, Facebook, and emails, I've been able to keep up with that parallel universe in which I thought I had dropped out of forever.
I Skyped with Tammie from Kent today. Then I Skyped with my housemate Rebecka today, for 2.5 hours, and we still had lots more to talk about. I was able to sit with her at my kitchen table, she in her bedroom (which is adjoined to my old one), and feel the distance between us shrink. Then, miraculously, the distance between that life and this life simultaneously shrunk too!

 I realize that that life was very much a real thing. It was this life. I was me then and I am me now, I was optimistic and positive and appreciate of the beauty in the world then, and I am, and can be now, regardless of external factors. Rebecka and I clicked in almost every respect, but greatest of all I think was our ability to enjoy every slice of life. My time with her and everyone else in England was a series of beautiful vignettes that I carry tucked away in my pocket. She's my Swedish sister; hey! I have someone I'm close to in Sweden! Oh hey and in Denmark! And France! Oh oh don't forget England! And of course Santa Barbara and Sunnyvale! I, for too long, (okay 1 1/2 months isn't that long..) had lost my memories of England, perhaps from being in denial of the fact that that chapter of my life finally happened and came to a close. That was cynical Sheila uprooting, the one that is much too externally motivated. Well, cynical Sheila, you're stupid. And that's not fair to yourself. You lived, REALLY LIVED those 4 months. And you were happy. And you deserve to keep that part of your life with you.

Those people and that world are but a few clicks away. This world is both so much bigger and smaller. Bless poodle.