'They say nothing lasts forever; dreams change, trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style.'
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kristen. we have the coolest 'how we met' story. our friendship was destiny. yes, i said that. we both were from out of town and both were interviewing for the same job. we met at the job interview, actually. i heard her laughing in the other room during the first round of interviews and i secretly disliked how easily it was going for her, with her long blond hair, rolling southern accent and lots of laughter. my interview was flat. straightforward. there was definitely not long blond hair involved.
at the next round later that day, we sat side by side for over two hours, waiting and waiting, then casually talking. we wished each other luck and from there traveled back to florida and east tennessee. about a month later, i had to fly to the school board in memphis to get fingerprints done. worst reason for a trip ever. i digress. as i was walking to the front door of the building, there was that hair again, that accent. no way! as sweet as southern pie, she says "this is crazy, i should get your phone number."
that afternoon, she called me while i was at the airport. me, hesitant, sometimes standoffish and annoyed with the day in general almost hit decline. at the last second, i made myself answer the phone and the rest is history.
we've meandered down rivers together, watched all six seasons of sex and the city on each other's sofas, been out for dinner or drinks or dancing or a combination on many occasions, laughed till our ribs hurt more times than i can count. most of my memphis social life has had kristen by my side. i can be myself around her, call her any time for anything. she's more than just blond hair and i don't know what i would have done for all these years without my scrimp.
kristen is comfortable to me. kind of like my memphis home. she's just easy to go to, always what i expect to find and always there for me. like i told you- our friendship was destiny. from the beginning, i knew we had a friendship that would last a lifetime.
michelle. by inherited reluctance, i found myself sponsoring a cheer team at my new high school. while this was not at all how i wanted to spend my after-work hours, i did not have much of a choice. one day, i was in the teacher's lounge during the first few weeks of the new school year, at my new school, photocopying cheer stuff. michelle, the small, smiley science teacher from down the hall sparked a conversation about cheerleading.
after a few minutes, she had volunteered herself to coach with me and for the next three years, we did just that together. hours and hours and hours (did i mention hours?) at practices and games somehow became more than tolerable, often enjoyable, because of my friendship with michelle.
she's bubbly, always positive, usually pregnant, and a really great friend. we can be super goofy together and she's so easy to talk to on a daily basis about whatever is going on in life. we're no stranger to each other's homes and lives and i'm better for knowing her perky-self!
luckily, when we retired from cheerleading together, we still maintained our friendship and these years at my job have been so much better because of her. there was a moment a couple of years ago where i thought she'd be moving back to her hometown and i was devastated. now, it looks like i'm the one who will be driving away. luckily, i know our families will remain friends and i see beach trips in our near future.
lauren. i'm an extremely sensitive person. i wear my emotions on my sleeve, knee pad, pocket, you get the point. also, i'm both acutely and widely passionate about most things in my life. very rarely do i not have an opinion on a matter.
it was our first september in our first year in memphis and we went to the cooper-young festival. determined to make the most of every moment and opportunity in our new town, we loved and still do love trying new things here. this festival, however, was the best one in all our years because i got something that day. it wasn't a piece of art from one of the many booths or a delicious shaved ice from a vendor, but a friend that matches my heart. i met lauren.
we hit it off immediately and haven't stopped talking about all matters of life since. she gets the emotional side of me and the whole deal about being passionate. lauren is the kind of friend that you can laugh at and with one night and talk seriously about deep things the next. lauren is the kind of friend that can drive you crazy with her little idiosyncrasies and can be the most thoughtful and kind person on the planet.
lauren is the kind of friend that i'm ever so thankful is mine. we've spent countless weekends together and i treasure every memory. she's got a heart of gold and will cheat flagrantly on any game you play with her. you've been warned.
even though we'll be hundreds of miles apart, i know our friendship is unwavering- much unlike any plans i make with her. teehee. love this girl. like crazy.
pam. at first, pam came as a package deal with kristen. i remember the first night we met was when kristen brought her to lauren's house for us to all get to know this girl we'd heard so much about. she was sweet, demure, a little reserved and calm.
woowee did she have us all fooled! pam is c.r.a.z.y. pam makes me laugh so hard my stomach hurts. she makes being over the top seem so easy that it might as well be under the ground. here's my favorite thing about her. she is the life of the party, the joke is always on her and she can make you practically roll on the ground even just reliving stories.
with all that being said, she truly has such a beautiful heart, the soul of a mother for all her friends, and would do anything for me. any time.
she's sacrificed her time, energy and even almost a limb being trapped by my crazy dog when she was taking care of him for me. i feel like when i talk to pam, she's not just hearing me, but actually listening. that's a gift.
while she's crazy fun to be around, she's also so sincere and doesn't fake anything. i admire that in her. being her friend, i love that i get to see more than just her larger than life persona and can come close to her vulnerable side, the sensitive and loving person that she truly is. i hope that we always stay in each other's lives because she makes mine more colorful than i could have ever imagined.
i'm going to miss seeing these four gals as often as i do since we've lived in memphis.
(excuse me a moment.
i'm back from my cry break.)
however, i have so many amazing memories with them. more than most people get in a lifetime. thank you, girls, for everything.
such a great post!!
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