You Can't Make Old Friends

Warning, Warning, incredibly indulgent post ahead. Post is filled with sappiness, overwhelming love, and memories glossed up and polished by time. Read at your own risk, and with a cup of black coffee by your side to cut the sweetness.

You’ve been warned…

We all have them…the friends that you might not see, or even talk to, for years, but when you finally get the opportunity to be together, the years melt away and you settle in together like puzzle pieces, as if you just stepped away from the conversation to get a drink.

That was how this weekend trip to St. Louis went.

Schmilly and Jason renewed their wedding vows, in honor of their 10-year anniversary. Schmilly, Boz, Barton, Argyle, and I were all on staff at Centennial Hall at Truman State University together. There were 15 of us on staff, and we had a glorious, magical, amazing year together. In part it was being there for the inaugural year of Centennial becoming co-ed. In part it was because we all worked so well together, and just enjoyed each other so much. Whatever the reasons, the years dropped away and the comfort of those friendships and shared memories rose to the fore.

Barton and Arg came without their families, and Boz and I are blessed with incredibly kind and flexible spouses. Buddie has always enjoyed time with Barton and Argyle, and Boz’s husband, Steve, goes with the flow impressively, too.

We didn’t get to spend much time with Schmilly since this was her event, but she was the draw that brought us all to St. Louis, and the air was thick with love during their vow renewals.

Buds and I laughed with more abandon this weekend than we had for a very long time. Being with these people brought so much joy. I’m grateful for every second I have ever gotten to spend with them.

And I was reminded why I love nicknames. This group, and anyone I meet through them, knows me as “Ginnie.” That was my nickname in college, it’s what Buds calls me, and it is a nickname that fills me with such peace. Everyone on staff that year had a nickname. We were an intense, momentary family. Filling a place in the hearts of each other.

My life has been filled with boundless joy, and that magical year in Centennial was one of the highlights.