After much encouragement from my husband to take a weekend away with some girlfriends and leave the little Songbird behind, it finally happened. Last weekend I took a road-trip - 13 hours through beautiful South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia - with some dear friends from college. Three of us 4th Central hall-mates carpooled together and met up with three other past roommates at a friend's house in Washington, DC. And let me just say, it was absolutely amazing that so many of us were able to get together with relatively short notice.
Out of the six of us, two of us traveled from Georgia (me and Bethany - who has been living in China for 5 years), one from North Carolina (Jodi), one from Indiana (Becca), and one from Connecticut (Bethy). The other lived in DC (Becca H). Aside from representing a diversity of location, we also represent a colorful diversity of life stages - two of us have children, two more are married, and two are single. This made for rich and varied conversation, for which I am thankful.
While there, we toured some museums, viewed the city from atop the Washington Memorial, danced in snow flurries, enjoyed a delicious home-made dinner, and talked in the car (by the fire, at night in bed, as we got ready for the day, etc...) I am so blessed to have such dear friends, and to be able to reconnect with them in such meaningful ways. Since having moved to a new city with an itty-bitty baby, I have had much time to reflect on the process of making friends later on in life. I know it's funny that I should be describing myself as having reached "later on in life," but in this instance the description fits.
There is nothing quite like the communal living done within the college or university setting. I beleive my communal experience was made richer because I attended a small, Christian, liberal arts college. I also feel extremely blessed by the hall-mates I had my freshmen year, and the impact many of them are continuing to have on my life. When you live with other believers and experience life together over a four-year period of time, you come to know the core of a person at an unusually accelerated pace. When you share meals, sleep, study, late-night excursions, poetry reading, walks in the woods, prayer, hopes, dreams, your inner beings are sodered together - even as you change and make important decisions. As I've been reflecting on the process of making friends, I've been discovering that reaching the inner being or core of a person is more often than not an extremely slow process when pursued outside of the communal setting. (Of course, there are exceptions to this - kind-of what I think of as immediate soul-mates. But these are rare exceptions).
Even though I met these girls 10 years ago, and sometimes go a year or more without seeing one of them, we have an uncanny ability to pick up where we left off. All the distracting things, such as modern consumerism, are pushed to the outside, and we are able to simply be within the familiar core. So as if I have not made it clear enough, I am so thankful that the Lord has placed these bosom friendships within my path, and I am equally thankful for the opportunity to reconnect this past weekend. And to those of you who could not come - you were sorely missed.
More pictures to come...
1 comment:
It's amazing that I can say, "I could have written that post!" We are so blessed to have these friendships. I'm sorry I couldn't join you. Your group photos are just beautiful! What a wonderful reunion! God has been so good to give us each other and the ability to stay in touch and to reunite over the years. I'm sure it was a delightful time for everyone! Hopefully you will all get to meet my little cutie before she's talking up a storm. She's well on her way to that as it is, even at barely six months! The doctor says she will be an early talker. Surprised? Love to you all!
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