I found a new podcast recently that I really love, and this morning I just happened to turn on one about Girlfriendology. I already knew a lot of the pros {obviously} of having great girlfriends, but I didn’t realize just how important they are in my life. Throughout the day, I just couldn’t help but think of the three amazing women in my life that I consider my closest friends. So today’s post is dedicated to them.
I’m sure you’ve heard me throw their names around this little blog here, but I’ve never really said anything about how we’ve met and how much they really mean to me. So here it goes.
Carrie and I met five {five!} years ago, when we were sophomores in college. We both worked in the admissions office, but I was too intimated by her {and all her friends} to really approach her. It turned out, however, that she was good friends with my roommate that year, and started coming over to our room. That’s how we really got to know each other.
Isn’t that picture attractive?
We actually became roommates the next year, and the rest is history. Carrie is the only one of my three friends that still lives near me, so she’s the one that I call when I need…pretty much anything. I could have an entire series on this blog about the stories I have with Carrie, like about the time we got drunk at an Asian karaoke bar in Boston. Or the time we got drunk in Vegas. Or the time we got drunk on New Years…
But that’s not all we do. Really. We watch Glee together. We drink wine together. We talk about anything {and everything}.
I love this girl.
* * * * *
I met Beth my sophomore year too {actually, I think I met all three of them my sophomore year…}. I don’t remember this, but Beth always tells me the story of when we first met. She was a year younger than me in school, and lived next to Robert her freshman year. Apparently I didn’t feel like walking all the way back to my room, so I knocked on her door and asked her for a tampon. And again, the rest is history.
I have two biological sisters.
But Beth is my third.
I love this girl more than I think she knows. She married her husband the summer between her junior and senior years of college, and he left for Afghanistan that November. Though she lived with his family, and her real family lives in Texas, Robert and I were/are her surrogate family. While Tyler was deployed, she was over at our apartment five of the seven days of the week. She ate with us, had a key to our home {and let us in when we locked ourselves out}, and went with us pretty much everywhere.
She lives in Germany now, with her husband, but she’ll be back in January. And I can’t wait.
* * * *
My freshman year of college, I was painfully shy. Robert was still in his Senior year of high school, and I was all by myself, two hours away. I was too scared to join any clubs, or make any friends really.
My sophomore year, I took an American Political Thought class. And that’s where I met Stefanie.
I don’t know if she knows this, but she kind of changed my life in college. And I love her for that.
I wasn’t really close to her my sophomore year, but one day I got a phone call from her. She had just been elected Student Body President, and thought that I should apply for the position of secretary on her Executive Cabinet. Filling out that application was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
I got the position, and got to work with one of the most amazing teams I’ve ever worked with. Stefanie and I have stayed close ever since, and is still inspiring me by the amazing things she does. She’s now getting her Master’s degree and is {too} far away, but she’ll be back soon. In fact, I get to see her in three weeks! But only for a day or two {so we can celebrate the marriage of one of our other Exec Cab members}.
Until she is back in California {and she will be back someday}, I’ll just have to work with emails and a phone call every once in a while.
* * * * *
Since graduating college, I’ve learned something; something that everyone I’ve talked to has learned as well.
Graduating and leaving school makes you realize who your true, honest friends are.
These three girls are the truest, most honest friends I could ask for. They were all in my wedding, and if I were getting married again tomorrow, they’d be in it again.
I love my husband, more than anything. But there is just no replacement for friends.
And they don’t even have to be girlfriends…
I love all of my friends.
Carrie. Beth. Stefanie.
Kevin.
Andrew. Parker and Margaret. J.R. {even if I haven’t seen you in a while}…
The other three members of my exec cab: Garrett {and Nicole}, Chase, and Kelli.
I appreciate all of you. I really do.
xoxo,
Joelle
