A Weekend To Remember
It has been two years this month since I last saw Megan, one of my best friends from college and my Maid of Honor in my wedding. Despite the amount of time that had passed since last seeing her, I was quite sure that when I saw her again...it would be as if no time had passed at all. I was absolutely right.
I went down to Ohio on Friday afternoon. It is a five hour drive from my house, and I was doing it alone since my dear husband had offered to stay home with Landon for the weekend so that I could better enjoy myself and have no restrictions (naps to work around, feedings, bedtimes...etc). So at 4pm I left Michigan and started my trek. The drive went great...I called a few friends and chatted a lot of the way...the rest of the way I put on whatever music I wanted and played it really loud (something I rarely get to do considering that I am usually listening to Bob and Larry sing Deep and Wide or the B-I-B-L-E. I got to my friend Amanda's house around 9. In college Manda and Meg and I along with two other good friends (Andrea and Sara) all hung out together ALL OF THE TIME. Many of my college memories include these two girls...my most fun memories definitely include them! We did so many fun things together...things I never would have thought I would do. We were extremely close...sharing breadsticks from Colonial's at 2 in the morning while we poured our hearts out about all of the big and small things in life. After two very fun years together, Manda graduated leaving Meg and I there for two more years. Even after that, we still all stayed close, but it was, of course, never quite the same. Considering that Meg and I were still at Cedarville and in the same major, we stayed extremely close. We went on to RA in different dorms and expanded our network of friends, but when it came down to it, we were still foundational friends. In fact, these girls were probably two of the best friends I have ever had in my entire life.
So when I got to Manda's at 9 we stayed up until close to midnight talking. She has two miracle babies...beautiful baby girls who fought to get here (one was a 28 week preemie and the other born 5 weeks early after Manda was on bedrest from week 23 on). So we talked about mothering and being wives and our goals and aspirations in life. We talked about churches and lots of other girlie stuff. It was wonderful to be able to talk so freely and openly after seeing eachother so few times these past years.
Saturday we got ready and went to the wedding...which was so beautiful! Lori has waited for so long to find the man she would marry and it was priceless to get to be there to witness the big day...and I must say she was GORGEOUS! I am so thankful to have gotten a chance to partake in her big day! During the reception I got to see so many friends that I have not seen in a long while. Two friends I had not seen since I left Cedarville, Tyson and Shellie, were there and we got to catch up a lot, sharing a table. It was just so refreshing to see people again and to see where life has taken them and how God has blessed them. So many friends are married and pregnant or have children already...it was so neat to see them!
After the wedding Manda and Meg and I went out to dinner. It was as if the pages of time folded back and we were 19 again. Seriously, we talked and shared and laughed and cried just like the old days...just like nothing had ever changed. Distance, life circumstances, marriage, kids, schooling, new friends...none of it made a bit of difference. We were best friends again...having a night on the town. After dinner, we went to another friends house and hung out until about 1am. The night was really something I cannot adequately describe. My heart needed that girl time...I guess I needed those girls and missed those girls more than I even knew I did. To be with them, even for those few hours felt like I had come home. I was with kindred spirits and I was home.
Megan is beautiful. She always has been, but she radiates such peace and grace. She is finishing up her Masters in Dallas living a fun life down there with friends. She has always been such an encourager and such an inspiration...and she still is.
Manda is a such an example to me...in her mothering and in the way she sacrifices for her family. Her faith and strength are so deep that I can only describe them as a gift of God. She has endured so many trials, and received such beautiful blessings.
I had the time of my life this weekend. I love my life here with my husband and my son. I would not trade it for anything in the entire world. Insomuch, the hours I spent away this weekend, with two girls who knew, and in so many ways still know, me so well, added some much needed life back into my soul. It is so easy for me to forget what it was like to be free of responsibility...sometimes the responsibilities of being a wife and a mother and going for so many years without any really close friends nearby, makes me forget all that I remembered this weekend. So thank you to my husband for giving me the best Mothers Day gift he could ever have given me...a weekend away with two of my closest friends. And thank you to Manda and Meg...for the memories and for your kindred spirits and for the moments we could share this weekend that I will live off of until the next time...
Cedarville really is an amazing place. Granted no one I know is really left there, but the memories live forever, and the people still do exist just in different places. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to go to this school and to meet all of you dear ones. We shared four years of our lives together, and in so many ways, we are bonded together by our common experiences. When we see each other again...the time seems to melt away and we suddenly go right back to being college students. That reminder this weekend really did my heart a world of good.
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