WonL
The random thoughts of an architect-turned- lawyer from the deep south living in Washington, DC...
Monday, January 02, 2006
I Corinthians 13
When I first moved to DC and didn't know too many people, I decided to look into my sorority's alumni chapter in Northern Virginia. The first meeting was a pot luck dinner and I had no clue what to expect. The room was filled with a lot of women who seemed to already know each other. Some of the ladies were a lot older, but there seemed to be a core group of us that were recent college graduates. Those of us that were a little younger all swapped phone numbers and decided to hang out. I went home glad to have made some new friends in my thus far lonely DC life. In my journal, I wrote about it describing each of my new friends. About Holly, I wrote "small southern religious." Little did I know, in the following years, she would become my dearest friend.Over the years, we spent countless evenings on her balcony with a few packs of cigarettes and bottles of wine. We could talk and giggle for hours and hours. We talked to each other about past experiences, many of which we came to realize were very similar. We got to know each other's families. Over time, we have made and lost touch with many friends, but the two of us always remained. We really have gone through a lot together: a boyfriend leaving the country, a boyfriend who asked her not to tell his parents she was from Texas, a disastrous job loss, the LSAT, an uber-Christian roommate, a creepy porn roommate, a very mean aunt, two siblings with "former" drug problems, a wedding with a rat as the ring-bearer, drinking problems, Law School, a Master's of NonProfit, a couple of Religion changes, numerous job changes (all Holly;-), an Eminem surprise birthday party, a cowboy themed birthday party, a bout of depression, running a charity and most recently, her move to Richmond. In essence, we really have been like peas and carrots.
The funny part is with all that we have in common and in all that we have grown together, we come from very different worlds and are looking to go to very different places. From the day I met Holly, she has been dreaming of her white picket fence. In fact, I think she has been waiting for this since she was about four years old. She wants to be a PTA mom ready with brownies when her little ones get home from school. She is your typical Junior Leaguer that will have her children dressed in clothes made from designers I cannot pronounce. She will do the cooking and cleaning while some charming husband makes all the money. She will go shopping with his mother and her mother and then they will go for high tea. She will throw the dinner parties and all the socialites will gather around her beautiful new piece of antique furniture. At the end of the day, this is what will make Holly smile.
Since I have known Holly, she has been struggling to get there. She has known exactly what it was that she wanted and has held onto the hope that she could one day have it. This has not been an easy road with dating disasters and relationships that seemed to go nowhere. Add that to a whole lot of pressure from friends and family members. "What? Holly is still not married? She's 26 years old, she better get moving." (It's a Southern thing.) Sometimes, I felt like giving her a giftcard to Home Depot and telling her to build her own white picket fence. Still, while Holly was growing into an independent, self-sufficient woman, part of her still longed for someone to just come and take care of it all. Enter white knight. I am happy to report that yesterday, in the wee hours of the morning, while everyone was still celebrating the arrival of 2006, Adam got down on his knee with ring in hand and offered Holly the white picket fence she has always dreamed of.
Congratulations, my "small southern religious" friend, no one deserves this more than you do.