smile because it happened

Immense doesn't begin to describe the range of emotions I've felt over the past few days. After completing one of the toughest, yet most formational experiences of my life and leaving a city that has become home and friends that have become family, I'm emotionally exhausted.

Me and the roomies at Coney Island

Bittersweet doesn't really capture my mood either--there isn't much sweet about it.

But at a time like this, a familiar saying comes to mind: "Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened." 

I've been smiling a lot recently.

There's the ear-to-ear smile brought about by uncontrollable laughter and sheer exuberation.

There's also the teary-eyed kind that, despite the look of it, comes from a deep sense of satisfaction and profound accomplishment.

Best team ever. No question.

And of course there's the kind of smile that I've found myself wearing most often in recent weeks. It's almost a one-sided grin with a sparkle in the eyes. It's the one belonging to someone who knows something that you don't. Someone who's completely content and supremely at peace. Someone whose thoughts and experiences can't quite be put into words or onto paper, but whose memories are rich. Memories which won't fade.

The memories are all I could ask for. I smile.