My day has been heavy with nostalgia. I started talking with someone about my college years this morning, and I have been reliving those four years all day. Today is the birthday of one of my favorite people, Karen. She was my freshman roommate, my first college friend. And today she is still one of the best there is. As I started scanning through pictures of us in college, I realized how good those days were. We were adventurous, eager to grow and learn, spontaneous, and creative. Mostly though, we were weird.
Of the many fun or strange things we did in college, a few moments stand out.
- Dressing up like the Red Hat Society for our freshman costume contest...and then bringing the "ladies" back our senior year. The purple outfits, the elaborate red hats, the spray-can white hair. I will forever be proud of those characters.
- Visiting my Arkansas home for Spring Break. We went with Lyndsey, our other best friend, and spent the week exploring the local coffee shop (yes, just one), watching movies, and driving long roads to and from. The road trip made for some of our favorite stories and "secrets", as well as an evening in a hotel where we corn-rowed my hair and watched Beauty Shop.
- Junior year, Karen and I spent several evenings recording Nighttime Tunes with Karen and Jess. She'd play her ukulele while I improvised song lyrics about random topics. Once it was about school supplies, I think, and another notable song described my mother giving birth to four children.
- Winning Battle of the Bands our senior year - Lyndsey, Karen, and I (aka Scout and the Finches). Then we went on to open for a touring band at a local venue. Who knew that books, cooling racks, and coke bottles could actually make some music?
- A million choir and Voices of Triumph concerts
- Too many self-indulged photo shoots
- Snow days
- Leslie Sansone
- Garden Dance Parties
I have so many great memories from college. And I'm thankful that some of those fun experiences have not been discontinued. We still do mini-road trips, and sometimes, we sing together. There have been weddings and babies and far-away travels for these college friends, but we have remained close. When I think of the three of us, I can't help but hear Ingrid Michaelson in the background of my memories. We started college listening to "The Way I Am" and daydreaming about the boy that would make us feel that way. Our rooms were often filled with sounds of Ingrid's album Be Ok. We sang "The Chain" over and over, and later, when I got married after college, Reed and I danced to her version of "Can't Help Falling in Love". And when we played at that local venue in college, we performed an Ingrid song.
In some ways, Ingrid's music has been the soundtrack to my college years and to this sweet, lasting friendship with these two women. I started listening to one of her albums today, and I was immediately back in that Tuckey dorm room. And today, I've returned to Tuckey as a Resident Director. I love living in this dorm and thinking of the women who are listening to their favorite music, being ridiculous late into the night, and drawing close to each other. Tonight, I pray that each of these women leave this place with friends like the ones I'm holding onto.
Today was a day for Ingrid and old pictures. It was a day to miss times that were less busy and less stressful. But today is also a day to be thankful for these friendships and how they've evolved. We are almost four years outside of our college days, but our relationships have only grown. These women have been my support system, my rejoicers and mourners, my favorite people. I'm missing them tonight, but I am loving what God has done through the two of them.
Thanks for taking me back today, Ingrid.