5

"Ok, we are women of the 90's what is it that we really really need?"

 "You know Brenda, you're never going to change."

  "And  I hope not. I hope none of us ever change and that we all always stay the same, tired and happy...and maybe a little bit brave"


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Ever since a T2T last week I've been thinking a lot about friendship lately. The ones that last, the ones that don't and everything in between. I think friendships largely form who you are at a certain point in your life and to an extent affect you forever. These days I'm missing the other four members of the "fab 5". Yes we were young, thought we were cool and coined a very clever name. There was Liz, Maria, Anne Stewart ( Stew), Megs and Me. Five peas in a very large pod.

Prom senior year. 

New Years 2003/4 in DC

The same NYE

The last 10+ years haven't been perfect. We all haven't been best friends at all times. Heck, sometimes we haven't even pretended to like each other. Megan and I got in a horrid fight over a boy and a seat on our volleyball bench?, Maria and I had an infamous river house throw down that we still laugh about. Stew and I lost touch in college for a while and Liz, well Liz and I can't play any sport together where we directly compete. It's still too emotional to talk about that fateful walk home from tennis in 6th grade.  Now we are all at different points in our life. I live 3000 miles away and am the wife of another of our good high school friends, Maria and Stew are taking DC by storm changing the lives of tons of cute kids, Liz is going to be an amazing lawyer and will be my first choice should I need representation and Megan is a Naval Academy graduate and high level officer serving our country on a ship in the middle of the Pacific. Who knows where the next 10 will take us.

Let me tell you what I do know. 

Maria is so incredibly put together. She has the best clothes and accessories and we just won't mention that phase she went through planning her wardrobes on a white board in middle school. She was robbed of best dressed in high school. She's scary domestic sometimes and could give Martha a run for her money in the kitchen. When I live in my forever house I'm flying her out to decorate. She's my go to white wine gal. She can pull off a peacock feathered new years outfit and still fit into it however many years later. She was the mastermind behind my family's Hanson answering machine message in 6th grade and she single handily taught me how to do a backbend. She grew Paper Whites for the party they threw me last December.  She made my parents a gorgeous angel key holder that still hangs in their hallway with five hooks on it so we all have somewhere to put our keys when the gals come over.

Stew has the BEST laugh you will ever hear. It is seriously contagious. She also wraps you up in the best hugs. We started year round swimming together in elementary school and braved the North Side YMCA for practice. She represented at my "It Takes Two" movie birthday in 5th grade. She's the only one who could rival Maria's closet for shoes and accessories.  She has such a big heart and she can always make me laugh. She loves a good time. She is one heck of a hostess. Her house growing up was the scene for one toooo many parties, deck talks and it's even where they hosted J and I's engagement party. We even did a mother daughter gift exchange when we graduated college. Monogrammed wine glasses for all so we could be classy adults. If your parents ever move Stew, we need to go back and give it one last hurrah. 

Megan is the bravest person I know. I respect her, am so amazed by what she does on a daily basis and am so humbled by what she does for our country. Oh and I miss her terribly. It's super hard to stay in touch now but she's always on my mind. She's stationed in Norfolk but has done quite a few deployments since her graduation. She's in charge of engineering how things run on the ship and fixing things that aren't working. A pretty big job.  I told my kindergarten class last year that she was a hero who ran a huge navy battle ship. To me, thats true. It broke my heart when she was deployed for our wedding but 20 minute vows don't hold a candle to national security apparently. She's really the link that brought J and I together. She introduced us at 15. We played so much volleyball together at school and on our national team I can't even count the games. She's who introduced me to Va Tech. She's strong, hilarious, incredibly thoughtful, loves hard and has such amazing faith. She's always been there no matter what I needed. We also have a standing pact to do a Disney Cruise with our spouses and kids. Date TBD.

blue icing cupcakes after volleyball

Liz. Oh Liz. She's been my partner in crime ever since we hated each other in 6th grade. We obviously got over it quickly and were attached at the hip. We even got a joint track award in high school because our coach had never seen us apart. I love that story. "You better get well or I'll kill you" was my favorite quote from a card she gave me sophomore year. She drew white blood cells all over the front. I still have it. We spent hours on her trampoline and made up a song about her dog. In fact, we made up a lot of songs. We have a signature pose we re-create for any special event picture. We went camping and set our shoes on fire. She taught me anxiety breathing when I was having a "moment" before I walked down the aisle. All my weekend days and nights were spent with her.  She made my dad "ugly cream" every year for his birthday. She's ridiculously smart, super driven and is the best mommy to Millie. She's always a voice of reason and she will tell me how it is.

We all have been there for each other through the best times imaginable and the darkest, longest of days. Obvious laughter and tears, but countless memories. We celebrated drivers licenses, birthdays, dances and dates. We hugged in one big circle going off to college, had many a sleepover and even formed the infamous AGC. Also known as the AGSC. Our friendships have changed over the years. Our lives have changed and the 5 of us rarely can swing it so we are in the same state. We've traded in our stirrup pants and puffy paint sweatshirts from the Limited Too for cocktail attire and wedding dresses. Who'd have thought we'd be here? 

No matter what I say, have said, do or wear these girls stay part of who I am. They know everything about me. We've had our ups and downs but when it boils down to it, these gals are some of the best parts of my heart. My babies will call them aunts and we will still be friends in our 50's. Liz can let us know how they are since she will be there way before the rest of us :)  

So girls, put on your white pantsuits and trench coats, grab the wine and meet me in my parent's basement. You remember the moves. Love you all so much. 
PS. I still get to be Goldie.