My Girls

The placard for our fake sorority: a tribute to our eternal friendship and the faith that brought us together.

I met a lot of people in college that I still keep in touch with, but there are a core few that continue to be some of my closest friends.  I met all of them through the Catholic group on campus, and within the first year of knowing each other, we were practically inseparable.  These women are brilliant, unbashedly passionate, and driven.  We are similar and different in ways that never cease to surprise me.  Thinking of us together reminds me of that book my mom read to me all the time as a kid, The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree.

Five young women.
One writing for homeland security.
One in relief work in the middle east.
One teaching English to five year olds.
One studying medieval texts.
One writing this very post you read.

A winding life full of surprises.
Do they dare embark upon that winding life full of surprises?

What is probably most surprising about this winding life is how well we've kept in touch and how many times we've seen each other over the last six or seven years since graduation.  Only two of the women live in the same city (now in the same apartment).  Two of us live in other U.S. states, at least a day's drive from the first two.  One lives in Israel.  Sometimes we go months without talking, but that never stops us from constantly wondering how the others are doing.

This summer, I drove up and down the East Coast, and each time I stopped to see one of them, we talked from the moment we woke up to the moment we forced ourselves to get some sleep.  We talked endlessly, wherever we were: on the screen porch, by the river, over meals, in the car, at parties, laying in bed, on the beach, under July 4th fireworks...

The thing about friendships like this is that they never get old.  When we're together, we laugh harder than we have in months.  We share things we can't share with anyone else.  We wonder what we'll be like in ten years.  We wish for more time together.

Recently, I sent out an email to these four girls to tell them about my potential house purchase and this blog, and the reply-all turned into a litany of life updates: housing, work, family, men (or lack thereof)...you name it.  It was as though we were back in college, crammed onto the rose-patterned couch someone's neighbor let us have, chatting about anything and everything.  The difference between then and now is us.  We're different now.  We're happier.  We're more fulfilled.  We're more self-aware.  We're more confident.  Our emails are not littered with unspoken insecurities the way they were when we first graduated and moved away.  Instead, they're full of hope and promise, even in the face of tough times:

"As for my personal life, it's a bit of a zoo... [But there are] beautiful moments every day."

So much in my life is different than the expectations I had as a nineteen year old.  I even feel differently than I thought I would.  But these women, they are my rock.  My constant.  My joyful reminder of where I came from and where I want to go.  I hope that my children are blessed with friends like this some day.  But in the meantime, I'll keep embarking on this winding life. Alongside four strong women.  My girls.  From the beginning to the end.

When we're together, we huddle near a computer and watch youtube videos for hours.
When we're not, we send each other youtube videos and huddle together in spirit.
http://www.jibjab.com/view/kc8Gha7wz8OiMqZRv8gq