My senior year of high school I received the Al Neuharth Free Spirit Journalism Scholarship. Because of this honor I got the opportunity to spend a week in Washington D.C. as the female representative for West Virginia.
During this short week I met a few people that honestly changed my life forever.
Here they are... :)
Mary Ryu (MD), Ryan Lee (NC), Holly Carter (LA), Ashley Brown (SC), and Jonny Alvarez (NY).
After this week ended I flew back to West Virginia and the entire way home from the airport to my house I told my mom how, although it sounded crazy, in one short week these people had become some of my best friends and cried as I contemplated the thought that I may never see them again.
It was something I had never experienced before. I never knew how quickly you could grow to love people and how quickly they could mean the world to you.
I told Mom that March afternoon in 2009 that two of those girls would be in my wedding one day.
I feel the need to write this post because one day, believe it or not, they will be in my wedding and I want people to know our story and recognize them.
So, here we go...
Right before this convention I decided to get on Facebook and creep on the names of my fellow scholars... the first name I pick out from this list of 102 is Ashley Brown.
HAHA!
Ashley seemed pretty normal... peppy and sweet. So, we became friends on Facebook and I will never forget the day I met her in the airport. We ran and jumped in each other's arms like we had known each other forever. Some of our other scholars even asked if we had met before coming to D.C. Nope, that's just how it has always been.
Then came sweet little Holly, another name that stood out on the list of many! I'm telling you it sounds crazy, but God had a hand in picking out these ladies from that list.
Holly was on a different bus than us and we had to wait to meet her until we got to the hotel. But as soon as we saw her we ran and gave her a big hug -- she fit right under my chin!
We've all kind of dubbed roles for one another along our little journey... Holly is the super successful business woman, I am the traditional wife/mother/school teacher, and Ash is the true definition of a free spirit, and I can promise you there is NO ONE like her.
So, after that initial week in March 2009 we decided to start making plans.
In June 2010 Ashley brown came scootin' up the road in her Volvo from Greenville, SC and overshot the driveway, landing in my neighbors yard, but I pushed her out and she ended up arriving safely in West Virginia.
While she was here we did everything I could think of to do in West Virginia...
Muddin'
Go out to eat.
Go up on the ridge...
and meet the fam!
Having her here was nothing short of amazing and she sure impressed these country boys with her sock/glove tricks and life threatening four wheelin' skills.
Four months later I received a phone call from Holly asking how close "LOUIS"ville, KY was from me. That was all she had to say and I was planning a Saturday trip down the road to see my Louisiana girl!
It turns out that Holly had a journalism conference in Louisville and had free time all day Saturday!
Just a little excited!
Neither one of us were familiar with Louisville so we just drove around doing random things like making Build-A-Bear teddies together and crying as we put our little hearts in them.
It had almost been two years since I'd seen miss Holly when we got to talking about a reunion. She had some time to take off of work, (Yes, she finished her degree in 2 and a half years and is already a news reporter/adult.) and I had a couple free weekends coming up.
Her time off was approved and tickets were booked so last Friday I got to the airport and picked up one of my best friends!
After a tearful reunion I took her in to Huntington to our one and only Fat Patty's!
After a tour of the campus and surroundings we headed OUT WAYNE!
She loved the "mountains". Haha!
We spent the night on the hill with good friends around a camp fire.
Saturday we had a shopping day with Momma!
We had Ash here in clothing! I wore her jeans she left when she was in WV and Holly wore a t-shirt she left behind!
Sunday was family day after church!
She just seems to fit!
We had such a great few days together, although it was much too short.
I thank God he gave us this time together and cannot wait until our next reunion.
If you've read this long, drawn-out post and are keeping track... you've read it right.. I've only seen Ashley twice my entire life and Holly three times. Who knows when, but maybe the next time will be on my wedding day.
Whenever it may be I know one thing is for certain, it will be the most precious time I could ask for and certainly a gift from God.
I love you girls so much.
See you soon!
