Sweet Sixteens and Sleepovers

There we were, sitting in the parking lot of Jewel Osco in Tinley Park. We were probably around 9 years old. Her mother asked us to come inside with her, but we were determined to stay in the car. After a lot of begging, she finally agreed but warned that we couldn’t change our mind because she’d be turning on the car alarm. She went inside and, in just a few minutes, we realized that staying in the car was not as interesting as we thought it would be. But, how would we get out? We decided to crawl out the windows. Amazingly enough we managed to get out of the car without setting off the alarm...but, needless to say, her mom was not as impressed with our feat as we were.

Yes, I remember that. I also remember the surprise “Sweet Sixteen” birthday party I threw for her when she ended up covered in silly string. I remember sleepovers when she'd undoubtedly make me watch scary movies. I remember taking gymnastics with her, running around the playground with her, choreographing dances to Paula Abdul songs with her...

Basically, whenever I think of my childhood, I think of her.

There is another dear friend in my life. We were in Mrs. McGuire's G.A.T.E. class together. I still swear Mrs. McGuire saw that we would be inseparable before we did—that’s why she sat us next to each other in class. We were both having trouble with our some of our friendships and ended up finding a friend in one another.

With her I remember football games and Speech tournaments. I remember how she was always late picking me up, but also how we always had a blast riding around in her car. There was blue moon ice cream from Sherman’s, horseback riding in South Carolina, and, of course, my insane surprise sixteenth birthday party and its second installment, which got busted by the cops.

Both these women have taught me so much. They have taught me about confidence. They’ve taught me that taking risks can be fun. They’ve taught me how to let loose and how to overcome serious personal battles.

Most importantly, they’ve taught me that true friendship means never having to apologize for who you are—that no matter what your flaws are, you are still beautiful and worthy of love.

They are both amazing women. And, they are both lucky enough to have found men that recognize that. So, I would like to congratulate…

Andrea & Casey
and
Melissa & August

on their engagements. I love you, I thank you for the years of friendship and support we’ve shared, and I wish you the absolute best that this world can offer!