just jillian: Lifelong Friends

Yesterday, Sally and I threw a baby shower for Sara which has made me think some about our friendship. Sally and I were really good friends in 1st and 2nd grade and then we lost touch. Lost touch for 8-year-olds means that we weren't in the same class. :) Then years later, in high school, we had some classes together and our friendship re-blossomed. Sara and I met freshman year of high school and stayed friends all through school. So the three of us--and Diana, who I met briefly in 4th grade (when I went to Richland for a semester) and then became friends with in high school--make up what I jokingly call the dinner club, although it has become so much more than that.

So we were all friends in high school and when we were all in town on breaks from college we would get together and go to dinner- hence the name. Side note: we usually go to Houston's. Senior year, for senior-out-to-lunch days other people would go to Chili's or McAllisters or some place, but we always went to Houston's. Every time. As if I even had to say that. So it started out as dinner when we were all in town which led to conversations about life and everything that was going on. We were there for each other through breakups and bad times and also through excitement and engagements. The summer after we graduated from college, Sara got married. Then a year later Diana got married and Sally joined the married ranks a month after that. Then Diana moved away. Now the babies will start coming (although Sally and Diana promise that they aren't having babies for years).

At Diana's wedding reception

Confession: Sometimes I feel like they are leaving me behind. Like I am in a time freeze and their lives are going on around me. Last year, we would get together when I came in town from nursing school and they would talk about married life and work and buying houses. I would talk about my essays or studying for midterms. I know it's not like that at all though. In college when I broke up with a guy over Christmas break, Sara was the one that made sure I was okay and kept me occupied through Christmas and New Years. She was the one who called me on Valentine's Day that year to make sure I was alright (and the one who I broke down and cried to as soon as I heard her voice on the other end of the phone). I remember sitting on my bed in my dorm room when Sara called to say that she was engaged and asked me to be a bridesmaid. In August, when I won a trip to New York, I knew that I wanted her to come with me. She is the kind of friend that even if I don't talk to everyday--or even every week--I know that I can always call her and we can pick things up where we left off. When I am going through hard times, I trust that she is praying for me and that she will intercede on my behalf. She is a fabulous friend, a great wife, and I know that she will be an incredible mother!

Which brings me to why I really wrote this post: her baby shower! Yesterday, Sally and I gave Sara a baby shower full of baby trivia, baby animal names, and family feud. In true Sara fashion, she won every game. (When guessing the amount of M&Ms in a baby bottle, she was within 3!) I wouldn't have expected anything else. That's just another reason why I love her! So here is the shower- in pictures!