Week #23: [insert clever title about friendship]

My 2016

Week #23

[insert clever title about friendship]

This week I began to figure out how the entirety of my summer is going to be, and I have to admit; I'm beyond content with what life is at the moment. The show I'm stage managing rehearses in the evenings, so I have my morning and afternoons free to do whatever I want...I can haunt my favorite coffee hangout from college, or sit out by the pool at the Belisle's house. I can meet up with friends or spend the day reading (for which I have rediscovered my lifelong passion). On Wednesdays, I drive an hour away to the Cumberland County Playhouse and work in their costume shop. That's been an experience of its own, since I have very little costuming knowledge.

This is my summer, and I love it.

On Friday, we had a pool party for one of my best friends Drew to celebrate his engagement to the lovely Olivia. I knew this was coming for a long time now...in fact, I can still remember sitting in the Walmart hair salon with Drew last May. He turned to me and said, "I've already been looking at rings. I'm gonna marry her, Lex." They had only been dating about a month or so, yet I knew this would be the end result. I couldn't be happier for them; they make a beautiful couple and I can't wait to see what their life together turns out to be. It's beyond weird to think about Drew being a HUSBAND, but I also know that our friendship has been through so much already, and nothing will ever change it. I love him so much. And I can't wait to know Olivia even more too!

While at the party, I got to see several friends from college that I hadn't talked to in a long time. The evening solidified my unwavering belief in Bryan College's ability to foster lifelong friendships. 

It doesn't matter that months have gone by without us speaking or seeing one another. 

It doesn't matter that our lives are totally different from what they were in school. 

It doesn't matter that some of us are married while some of us are not. 

The bonds we created through being at Bryan together can't be broken simply by distance or the passage of time.

If I could thank Bryan College for one thing, that would be it. I don't keep in touch with as many friends from there as I thought I would when I graduated, but the ones that have continued to pop into my life are there for the long haul. We are able to pick up where we left off, and we continue to encourage, lift up, and love one another. It's an amazing thing to witness, and an even more beautiful thing to feel. 

So thanks, BC, for giving me so many people to fondly remember, laugh with, and love on.

It's making this summer even more wonderful than I previously thought it could be.