Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Story time!


This post is a tribute to someone very special to me. This is the story of how it all happened.


It was my freshman year of college and I had joined the University Chorale. I didn't really know anyone in the group except for the cute guy that was in my Interface group. (That didn't have any influence on me joining, I promise....=) I didn't know either of the girls who stood on either side of me in the (awesome) alto section. A few of my friends from my Interface group were planning on coming home with me to Big Spring Jam in Huntsville. (For those of you who don't know, it's a huge concert w/tons of different bands there and it's lots of fun.) One of those friends happened to be another cute Minnesota guy from my Interface group. (He will come back into the story later.) I happened to mention it for whatever reason to the girl standing next to me in rehearsal. I kept thinking that her name was Nicole for whatever reason, but I knew that wasn't right. I just couldn't remember what it actually was. Well, when I told her about my plans for that weekend, she said something to the effect of:: "That sounds like fun. I want to come too!" So I said sure! The more the merrier, right? Turns out her name was Lauren.



That weekend was definitely one of the most memorable of my college career. That Friday night I got pulled over for the first time. We laughed so hard about the whole incident. We goofed off and all piled up on (and nearly broke) my bed. Lauren and I shared a bed, and the whole weekend we "argued" about whether I liked Ryan (the cute Minnesotan) or not, and whether I should date him. Because Lauren had kinda started thinking that she might like him, but didn't want to intrude if I had already claimed him.



After another month of denial, Ryan and I finally dated. It was one of those situations where we were best friends, so it could have either ended really really good, or really really bad. It turned out to be the latter. And the whole time, Lauren, my new-found friend, was there for me. She is one of the few people here who has seen me really cry. She's one of the few people who understood that I didn't want to talk, I just wanted her to sit there. The rest of that semester was one of the most trying times of my life. I wasn't sure what I wanted. The only person at school that was constant in my life was my Lauren.



The next semester, things got a little interesting. Ryan and I finally got to where we could be around each other again, and the main reason for that is because of Lauren. We were both close with her, so therefore we had to deal with each other. I dated another guy for a little while, but it was never meant to last. Upon the ending of that relationship, Lauren invited me to church with her. She had told me about a guy that went to church with her who was pretty cute, but she wasn't sure if she liked him or not. When we got there, this certain guy wanted an introduction to "Lauren's cute friend," so he threw a paper wad to get her attention. Well, he missed Lauren and hit the "cute friend," AKA:: me. And that was how I met Micah. But that's another story for another day. =)



Shortly after that fateful night, Lauren and I were walking across campus. She looked over and said in her mischeivous little tone that she has: "Val, can I ask you something?" Before she could even ask the question, I answered: "Yes, you can date him." She and Ryan had grown pretty close over the past few months.



So to make a long story short, I married Micah and she married Ryan. And the weird thing is...it's never been weird at all. A friendship like ours is the only one that could survive something like that. I mean really. Who else lets their best friend date and marry their ex, and still remains best friends? It doesn't happen much. And that's how I know that our friendship is unique. I'm not sure if I'll ever find something like it ever again. She's awesome. And I have no idea what I'd do without her.



I am telling you this story now because 4 years ago today, Lauren, Ryan, and I (along with a couple of others) all loaded up in my car and drove down to Huntsville for that Big Spring Jam weekend.



This next part is for La. It's a bunch of memories and inside jokes from the last 4 years::

Chi Beta Banquet from Hades, getting our ears pierced together, Tishomingo, poor Willard, Otis Spunkmeyer muffins, Gweedo and Fillmore, our signature funny face, dying our hair, purple hair, chorale dance team, Ralph and Charlie, the love octagon, cream cheese danish, pen fights, history class comic strips, chorale spring tour, Chow Wagon, cattle battle, midget slides, anybody wanna peanut?, invisible grenades, and I can't think of any more at the moment. I hope you know you're one of the best things to ever happen to me and my life would be incomplete without you in it. Love you, girl.

1 comment:

Candy said...

I know all about the midget slides :) haha