Impromptu meetings. Running into friends and running out for coffee. Planned times together while we're both still students. Et cetera. So I'm going to try to collect these memories in a little bucket, both so I can look back on them later and so that I notice them as valuable at the time.09/19/07 Going out for breakfast with Almeda on moving day. Sitting at Smitty's and talking about goals for the year.
10/02/07 Sitting in the park with Shawn drinking slurpees on a cool and windy but sunny day. Talking about theology and Catholicism. Respecting him for what I hadn't known how to see in him before.
10/07 Singing in choir.
10/08/07 Just hanging around in the lounge during a class break. Seeing friends doing the same thing. Talking to Carolyn about things going on in our lives. Listening. Getting her advice on recipes.
10/12/07 Standing on the porch in Montana in the dark with Amanda. Drinking tea and singing "Lord Have Mercy." Sharing a room and going to sleep with gratitude for this faithful friendship that has given me a tour buddy, a vacation buddy, a retreat buddy.
10/07 Mailboxes. Checking my mailbox in hope that there is something new in there. Having an easy place to put notes and cards for my friends, so that there will be something new when they check it.
10/26/07 Billeting with Melissa W on mini tour in the place with the amazing quilts. Sitting on my bed together and talking after our billets had gone to sleep. Being able to call people dear friends, and to have them list me as a close friend, even though we've never spent much time together. Making plans to have tea parties and take walks with Melissa.
10/27/07 Spending free time in Kelowna with Amanda and Danaya. Perusing the discount bookstore. Eating lunch at a bakery where the food was wonderful. Gathering leaves.
11/01/07 Having a Spaghetti Party. People thinking that's great, not weird. Being able to expect that everyone's free at dinner time.
11/10/07 Dancing and hanging out with Heather and Ashlee at Almeda & Brian's wedding. Commenting on how we would never expect the three of us to be doing this together, to be building friendships this way.
11/20/07 Having a great conversation about Irenaeus, etc, with Eric in the library. Being somewhere where people know who Irenaeus is.
11/21/07 Having people around with whom I can be honest when I am not well. Sharing about family struggles with Melissa B when we saw each other during a class break. Her taking the time to pray then and there for me and the situation. Sharing again with Almeda in the lounge soon after. Being able to say it is awful and without feeling the need to resolve the situation to happiness by the end of the conversation.
11/22/07 Hearing Melissa W say "I love you!" to me on my way out of the school.
11/26/07 Leaving the school a few steps behind Devin, and him stopping and turning around with a smile when he saw me, happy to see me.
11/27/07 Walking into school as Freddy had just walked by. Him turning around (without breaking his stride) to come and give me a big hug and hello.
12/04/07 How Jeremy calls me girl. "See ya later, girl."
12/07/07 Hugs from Freddy. How he holds me tight and all is safe there.
12/07/07 Being in a place where I can trust people to love me. (Thanks for that tonight, Danaya and Stephi.)
01/14/08 Talking to Shawn in the hallway, and him realizing that I was what had been missing in his plans the night before. Thanking him for having a place for me in his life. Him admitting that it's not a big place, but saying that it can get bigger.
01/15/08 How Barry felt like it was important to tell me personally that he was leaving.
01/16/08 The motivation to read interesting things that I probably wouldn't read on my own, like the history of the Jews and the Apocrypha.
01/17/08 A dessert, movie, and games night with Danaya and Amanda. Having people who care to be around me even when I'm sick.
01/18/08 Mealey telling me that he was pleased to see my friend and I in his class. Being respected and considered intelligent by my professors.
02/08 Lunch after class on Fridays at Pizza Hut with May Lee, Shawn, Amanda, etc.
02/11/08 Seeing Ashlee around and having a chance to chat. Talking about boys and Lent. Hoping to go for coffee soon.
02/11/08 Being honest with Carolyn about how I'm really feeling. Having a friend who values being honest more than being polite. Seeing myself more clearly as I articulate matters to her, and feeling like I've touched something real. Finding myself identifying the school's foyer as the place where I cry with Carolyn.
02/25/08 Going to Wendy's for lunch with Amanda after NT Backgrounds class. Impromptu. Enjoyed.
02/08 Dinners with Amanda and Danaya.
03/09/08 Talking in my car with Amanda outside the restaurant after everyone else had gone home, and how that brought such a good end to the night.
04/01/08 Spending lunchtimes in the Pygmy hanging out with Jess, Shelly, and sometimes Fay. Being someone who can share good conversations with the older students at the school.
04/15/08 Going out for coffee with Naomi. Her remembering, even though there was enough time to forget. Sitting on the leather couches with the beautiful flowers in a quiet corner of the mall and sharing what lies beneath the surface.
04/16/08 Being invited to help out with the first year Greek class next year.
04/24/08 Attending a dinner in my honor with my major. Being able to share with them about my journey, and hearing their affirmations. How some of them sacrificed to be there.
04/26/08 Grad. A day of joy. Being celebrated. Looking around at the profs and realizing how many of them have meant so much to me, and later having them tell me that they've been honored to teach me. Walking down the aisle with Frank. A "Congratulations to Us" card from Amanda. How my Mom came and brought Inid, and how my brother came as my own personal photographer.
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