Never getting over your favorite song

I've had the same favorite song since I was 12. "Going Away to College" by Blink-182. Yes, I said Blink-182 and yes, I'm 22-years-old.

That song soothed me when I went to camp for the first time, when I broke up with my first boyfriend, when I actually did go away to college, and when I graduated college a couple months ago. And everything in between.

I've heard that song performed live twice, with three different people I was once close to and now have nothing to do with.

It's true that nostalgia runs in my family. My brother used to cry when he got new shoes because he felt bad for the old ones (even though now he likes new things more than anyone I know).

But I don't think that's why I've held onto this song for so long. Like everyone else, I go through phases where I just can't get enough of some song for a couple months, and then it's replaced by another one and I never listen to it again. If I happen to stumble across it a few years later, it will remind me of whatever was going on in my life at that point.

I don't associate "Going away to college" with any person or event or milestone because it's been there the whole time. I never got sick of it and I never stopped listening to it.

More than anything else, it's just a reminder that I've come a long way to grow into the woman I am today. But in so many ways, I will always be the little girl listening to Blink-182 on her Walkman wondering when I would have my first kiss, when my parents would let me see PG-13 movies (they must not have been aware of the parental advisory sticker on the Blink CD), and if and when I would ever grow up.