Month: March 2019

Year 4, Week 40: March of Friends

I adore words, but sometimes pictures speak louder. The pictures below do not include all the people we value in our lives. But I wanted to share these in particular because they all have something major in common: they visited us when they didn’t have to – from Florida, from north Chicago (which basically feels like its own state sometimes, let’s be honest), from Michigan, from St. Louis, and from Washington, D.C.

Here’s what’s cool: Frankie from Chicago (but now lives in Florida) is someone I met on the CTA and became a friend to “watch” Netflix comedy shows and eat ice cream with. He -and his black service doggo, Subaru -have become our good friends. When he called to set up a day to hang out, he told us, “People are telling me I’m crazy for coming to cold Chicago during spring break, but I tell them I really miss my friends.”

AW.

Frankie is a guy I like to say I “picked up” on the train after getting mad that no one offered their seat during rush hour. I love how honest and open he is with his life despite becoming blind at 21.

Jess and Mary are friends I met through work, English and Math teachers respectively. The fact that they wanted to venture to the west suburbs on a Saturday morning to have brunch and see the results of our rehab means more than I ever expected it to, mostly because I don’t expect people to show up. When they do though, I’m seriously flattered.

Jessica and Mary are such fun people to be around. They “get” it and use class and their smarts to make the world a way better place both, especially with their students. When they came to the new neighborhood for brunch and later expressed desire to see the new house, I was seriously so glad that they were there with me to celebrate the most recent renovations!

Shawn R is Cody’s best friend from high school. When we met Julianna, we knew they were a perfect match – and now they have adorable little girls! We love hanging out with them. We laugh and laugh and laugh. They didn’t have to stop by on their way home from Arkansas back to Michigan, but they did and we’re so grateful. The ice cream stop was so great.

The R family is so special to us. Shawn and Julianna are from Cody’s home state of Arkansas, but they currently live in Michigan, building their own log cabin BY THEMSELVES. Their girls are growing up so well and we are so grateful they stopped by to see us on their way home from Arkansas.

I met Jessica through my workout program, The Ladies Edge. About six months after I joined, I remembered that Jess and her family live in St. Louis, so we’ve stopped by on our way down to Arkansas to visit Cody’s family. They are so much fun and great people to talk to and learn from. We’re lucky that Brandon and Cody get along so well.. gives us a reason to keep getting together. When they stayed with us during their trip to Chicago, I didn’t realize we’d enter the next stage: making fun of Ania and get away with it. Not everyone gets there. Congratulations, guys.

The H family is so awesome. You can’t tell, but they’re the proud parents of four beautiful and smart kids and, though they live in St. Louis, we feel like they’re never really that far away — which is kind of crazy, because I met Jess through the online workout community I’ve been part of the last year, The Ladies Edge. ‘Hi, I’m Ania, and I meet awesome people online.’ Go figure 😀

Maria Elena is a friend from studying abroad SIX years ago! My favorite words from Cody that weekend were “Have a fun girls’ night! Enjoy!” After a delicious Spanish tapas meal, we ended up at a bar hosting a 70s theme dance party. Had we realized where we’d end up, we may have left our leather jackets at home. Oops. Regardless, the fact that she still wants to make time to hang out after all these years is awesome. It’s time for us to plan a trip out to visit her soon!

How special is it that I get to see this pretty lady just about every year since we studied abroad together in Spain in 2013? There’s something so cool about reuniting with someone who shares so many amazing memories with you when yall were 21. I know I’m only 27 and still very much “young”, but going out with Maria Elena makes me feel like I’m 21 again.

I guess the point of this reflection is simply to recognize the people who don’t just say they appreciate our company.. they show up – when they don’t have to! Again, this isn’t nearly all of the people who we love and show love in return.. it’s just that all of these friends visited in the span of a month and it became very obvious that we’ve built some pretty incredible friendships. May it only continue!