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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!