If you know me, I am pretty passionate about the relationships in our lives. I am all the words in the book: Outgoing, extroverted, WOO...and some of that has even oozed over to my naturally introverted husband. All in all we know that our greatest purpose here is to be in relationship with God and others...
A long-standing friendship is about to change due to a move. In just one hour we are going to spend our last *adults only* evening with these friends. In the days leading up to this evening, it is caused me to pause and reflect on these friendships.
Many of you have met Noel and Kat in the 8+ years they have been our friends. Noel and Kat are making a big move to Austin, TX. This move is not a huge shock as Kat is originally from TX and while she has *warmed* up to Minnesota some, it has always been in their conversations about moving somewhere...
How did this friendship begin? Noel and I had a Comp class together at UMD spring semester of 2001. We never talked once until our instructor told us for this handwriting analysis assignment to work with somebody we had never worked with before. We paired up and the rest is history. Some early Noel memories:
*Him emailing me about his n.ude moment at the top of a mountain climb at camp.
*The deep life conversations we shared.
*Dancing to Janet Jackson anywhere we went.
*Heath not liking Noel one single bit. It took Noel graduating, moving away and coming back for a visit before Heath gave him a chance.
*Noel's wedding gift to us: A laundry rack that I am happy to say we still have and use daily.
In 8+ years, life can take many turns: AmeriCorps, buying a new house, meeting a girl, jobs, kids born, immediate family challenges, travel, moving, money, marriage...
When I have paused to reflect, I was blown away how much life the 4 of us have done together:
*I very distinctly remember Noel falling for Kat. We were sitting on a bench in the Har Mar Mall when he told me about this girl...
*Shortly after our bench chat, Kat visited and then moved to MN. I vividly remember meeting her at Champps in St. Paul, she had the cutest hat, but most importantly, I liked her genuine and soft personality immediately.
A long-standing friendship is about to change due to a move. In just one hour we are going to spend our last *adults only* evening with these friends. In the days leading up to this evening, it is caused me to pause and reflect on these friendships.
Many of you have met Noel and Kat in the 8+ years they have been our friends. Noel and Kat are making a big move to Austin, TX. This move is not a huge shock as Kat is originally from TX and while she has *warmed* up to Minnesota some, it has always been in their conversations about moving somewhere...
How did this friendship begin? Noel and I had a Comp class together at UMD spring semester of 2001. We never talked once until our instructor told us for this handwriting analysis assignment to work with somebody we had never worked with before. We paired up and the rest is history. Some early Noel memories:
*Him emailing me about his n.ude moment at the top of a mountain climb at camp.
*The deep life conversations we shared.
*Dancing to Janet Jackson anywhere we went.
*Heath not liking Noel one single bit. It took Noel graduating, moving away and coming back for a visit before Heath gave him a chance.
*Noel's wedding gift to us: A laundry rack that I am happy to say we still have and use daily.
In 8+ years, life can take many turns: AmeriCorps, buying a new house, meeting a girl, jobs, kids born, immediate family challenges, travel, moving, money, marriage...
When I have paused to reflect, I was blown away how much life the 4 of us have done together:
*I very distinctly remember Noel falling for Kat. We were sitting on a bench in the Har Mar Mall when he told me about this girl...
*Shortly after our bench chat, Kat visited and then moved to MN. I vividly remember meeting her at Champps in St. Paul, she had the cutest hat, but most importantly, I liked her genuine and soft personality immediately.
*Camping on the North Shore when the thermometer hit 18 degrees. It was Kat's first MN fall and camping trip. I think it took her until the next summer to thaw out!
*We have sang many songs together, had many cups of coffee, time in nature, laughter, tears, hard conversations, encouragement, love...
It is hard to think that they have always been within a half hour drive and are now going to be thousands of miles away. While my heart is a mixture of emotions about this move, I have reminded myself several times this week that our friendships are sustainable despite the distance. I mean we live in 2009: Cell phones, email, Facebook, blogs...
But nothing can replace that face time, sitting close, telling stories, updating about our weeks, laughing, oh the laughing...which is why I will go tonight and enjoy every last moment we have together...until the next time...maybe in TX?!
We love you both and are excited to witness this new chapter ahead. <3
*We have sang many songs together, had many cups of coffee, time in nature, laughter, tears, hard conversations, encouragement, love...
It is hard to think that they have always been within a half hour drive and are now going to be thousands of miles away. While my heart is a mixture of emotions about this move, I have reminded myself several times this week that our friendships are sustainable despite the distance. I mean we live in 2009: Cell phones, email, Facebook, blogs...
But nothing can replace that face time, sitting close, telling stories, updating about our weeks, laughing, oh the laughing...which is why I will go tonight and enjoy every last moment we have together...until the next time...maybe in TX?!
We love you both and are excited to witness this new chapter ahead. <3
2 comments:
We have enjoyed meeting and getting to know Noel and Kat as well, we wish them the best!
Melanie and Brian
Ahhh. Hope you had the best night ever! I am thankful that we were introduced to Noel and Kat through you guys. And even if we had limited interactions through the years, they were always times to be cherished. Love their love for life and the fun we had when around them! Will miss them but will be excited to keep in touch too!
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