The Future

So much about our lives have changed since we first met. Although not quite the same age, most of us were in high school (Sorry, Rach :)). Now most of us are finishing college! It's so bizarre to me to think that in a few short years our lives could be in six different states. I am so proud of these girls in everything they do, and I am daily amazed at the expertise and raw talent our little group possesses. Even though we may go months without having a real conversation, I love these girls like no one else in the world, and I know that if I needed them, they'd be there. And I also know that when we do talk, we'll make up for the lost time. I so appreciate their friendship and support, and I wish we could spend more time together, but I am so excited at where God is taking them in their own lives.

Reunion

For the first time in nearly three years, the six of us were together. And it was felt good. Katie and I orchestrated this event, and to our delight, everyone was able to attend - unusual, to say the least. It was decided that Katie would grab some pizzas, and I would meet the girls at Ameristar (a relatively central location) and we'd all meet at my house, then maybe catch a movie. The occasion was actually a sort-of surprise party for Rach's grad. Katie and I spent the morning at Wal-Mart, trying to find the perfect card. It was on this day that we met the woman at the photo kiosk-the one who'd recently lost her husband. As we looked over cards, this weighed heavily on our minds. After about a half hour of looking at cards, we decided to cheat. We found a lot of great phrases, but no great cards. So as I copied our favorites down, she immersed herself in the cards with audio. We no longer go card shopping together...
Anyway, we finally got the cards copied and the gift arranged. We went back to our own houses, got the gift/card-ish ready, and prepared to meet the girls.
Getting back to my house was rather uneventful. In fact you could call the entire evening rather uneventful. We ate pizza, gave Rach her presents (she was so surprised), took lots of pictures, and talked. And talked. And of course, Sunny introduced us to the cookie-ice cream dessert (aka the only time the six of us were completely silent all evening). I could hardly limit such an occasion to just the two pictures in the collage.


The three 2009 returners to WOF (aka a black hole where dreams go to die).


The 2009 Graduates!
(Khira and her groping...)

The City Girls Go On A Trip...

At some point in time, the idea of an Antique camping trip was formulated. I'm not sure who originally came up with the idea for four city girls to try to "rough it," but Katie was a girl scout, Rachael either was a girl scout or had some other notable experience, Khira was a small-town, country-ish girl, and I -- well, we were camping at my Uncle's lake (so I basically just brought the location, transportation, and tent). In other words, I could get us there and give us something with which to construct shelter, but that was all. We arrived and Aunt Tammy brought out a horse for us to take pictures with. We are, after all, the Antique girls. Once we had all been photographed, we headed down to the lake. We got the tent set up and it was, well, passable. Thankfully Katie and Rach knew something, because, although belonging to my family, that tent was a mystery to me. Once we constructed it, we swam in the lake. Having a lake completely to ourselves is something every group of girls should do. Promise, it's awesome. We alternated taking pictures, some sunbathing, but mostly we swam.
After a few glorious hours of swimming, we decided to build a fire. Fire--another thing four girls are just dying to get their hands on. We gathered the firewood and doused it in lighter fluid (we love lighter fluid), and light up. We had some help from my uncle at one point, but I can't remember when. We lit both the grill and the camp fire, so we could have pizza AND smores - real camp food for sure. After dinner, we took the raft out and played cards. Katie and I played the game Spit, and it's safe to say that we played by different rules. I wouldn't say Katie cheated, but I'm definitely not above typing it. When it got too dark for cards, we did the smores and then went swimming again... Swimming at night is the best. We loved it. By the end of the day we were EXHAUSTED. The next morning we woke up and made a walmart/sonic run. We bought a cheap disposable camera to supplement Rach's canon - there was a battery or memory card issue. We played in a park and then headed back to the camp site. As we drove back, rain started hitting the windshield, and it was pouring by the time we hit Thayer. We grabbed the essentials and headed to my other aunt's house to sit in the hot tub (we're city girls). Eventually the rain let up enough for us to pack up and head home, full of good memories, but soaking wet.

Here are some pictures that aren't really up in the collage, but too good not to share.

Antique Pictures

What could be a better job for 6 girls than a place filled with opportunities to play dress-up and take unlimited pictures?? We all started there the summer of 2006 (it seems so long ago!), and we were in store for quite a summer.



Summer 2006: The first picture is of Katie and Sunny in their white trash raincoats. It was pouring that day as they left. Neither had an umbrella, so they improvised. That is, until the security guard or a supervisor or someone they couldn't ignore yelled at them and made them take their sweet raincoats off.






Summer 2007: Khira and Rachael on her last day EVER of working at WOF. Bittersweet. We took SO many pictures that night. Such good memories. Thank God we were never busy, otherwise we'd actually have to pay attention to customers.




Summer 2007: Katie and Rachael. I wasn't there that day, but I'd venture to guess that they were bored and Katie had gotten a haircut recently. :) Note: Katie is wearing the blue dress that I eventually lost. But more on that later.



Summer 2009: The next picture is of me and Hannah on our last day working together. She was going back to UCM and although I didn't leave for another week or two, we wouldn't be back the same times. We told the girl working with us to do a photoshoot and she finally figured it out - like 200 pictures within ten minutes. We're hard workers. We actually dressed up twice that evening - and honestly worked in between - but one group came in both times we dressed up (about an hour and a half apart). They just laughed at us.

Lunch with Sunny

During my spring break, I got a text from Sunny that went something like this:

"Holy poop, you're in town."

With an invitation like that, you can bet we'd be getting together. Rachael and I met Sunny for brunch at Cracker Barrel, after heading to the wrong one initially. (Can I go anywhere without getting lost? Probably not.) We sat down to the table and waited for our dear Sunny to make her appearance. We didn't wait too long before Sunny appeared. She came, full of stories and details about her life. We ate a delicious brunch and got to know each others' lives just a little better. It was a wonderful time and ended all to soon, with Sunny heading back to David's Bridal and Rach and I back to Independence, then me to KC. Quite a conclusion to a great break.

Bringing in 2010

Three of us gathered to celebrate the new year this past year. We donned necklaces and tiaras and gathered at Katie's house for sparkling cider, snacks, and an evening of attractiveness - and I'm not just talking about us (we watched the new Star Trek movie!). Between watching movies and watching the New Year special, we had to take several group pictures, shots that included poses such as "how we look when our mom talks to us" and several "New Years" themed pictures. After our photoshoot, we watched the ball drop and were assaulted by several frightening performers, and yes, I do mean Jennifer Lopez, in her skin-tight, flesh-toned body suit and Justin Bieber serenading (?) Selena Gomez. Maybe when your voice changes and you grow a little, kiddo. Despite these horrifying vision, the night was an incredible way to welcome 2010.

Christmas Reunion!

December 26, 2008.
Our second true reunion. We were celebrating Khira's graduation, as well as the opportunity for the five of us to get together: Rachael, Hannah, Katie, Khira, and myself. Katie invited us back to her house afterward, where we ate dinner and watched (made fun of) the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. It was the second, and one of my favorite, of the Antique reunions.
We decided to go ice skating at Crown Center (and oh, it was beautiful!). Katie and I had bought some frames and flowers to give to Khira. We met up with the girls, skated and watched the fountains a little bit, and got to see a proposal on the ice! It was unseasonably warm, which meant no coats hindering our pictures or getting in the way while we skated. The ice was crowded, but most of us managed to stay off the ground (I was the exception - a pre-teen boy crashed into me and pulled me down...awkward). All the while, we snapped photos left and right. As we started the caravan back to Katie's, I don't remember what Rachael and Khira did. But Katie dropped me at Walgreens (after an unsuccessful attempt at Walmart) to print out pictures for the frames while she ran out to get the pizza. She picked me up and Rachael and Khira followed us back to Katie's, while I frantically put our pictures in the frame. We got back to Katie's, the gift was beautiful, and we started our much anticipated sleepover. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants left much to be desired, as we were not preteen girls looking for a superficial tear-jerking movie. Plus, our friendship is infinitely better, namely because the characters in that movie ain't got nothing on us. :)

Mini-Reunion

One fine day two years ago, we decided to attempt to get the group together again. During that time, Katie and I were both leads at Antique, Rachael was doing an internship, Khira was working in Richmond and Hannah was working at the mall. Katie scheduled us to work the morning shift together and Rachael was the only one available to hang out, so the three of us met up downtown. We walked around Union Station and Crown Center. It was doubly fun because Rachael had just gotten a fancy new camera for us to play with (we've since fallen in love with that camera). This was also the night of our first fountain escapade. But more on that later.
Afterwards, we followed Rachael to make sure she got on the right highway, running two or three red lights on the way (I don't think Katie ever got tickets for that...).

Movie Night!

I had no idea how much I needed to see these girls. Even though it was just the three of us, we had an amazing time. It was so great to see Katie and Sunny and to catch up on their lives. We still wait with bated breath for the announcement of a wedding date, but it was so nice to get to here about Cody and Sunny's life together and to meet him! Naturally, we devoured a cookie dough/ice cream pan and covered so many conversation topics I can hardly recount them here. We thoroughly enjoyed The Young Victoria, and we enjoyed mocking Bright Star (let's not even get started... worse than Sisterhood II, girls). It was an incredible night and I can't wait to get all six of us together!

Imports

I know I'm super post-happy right now, but I promise this is it. I'm just trying to get everything together in one place! So here's our tribute video and the essay I wrote regarding the incident before Rach's graduation party.

The Power of a Simple Conversation
One of the biggest paradoxes of the times that we live in is that we have the technology to communicate with hundreds of thousands of people a day, and yet we isolate ourselves like no other generation before us. In the comparatively few conversations we engage in on a regular basis, we rarely open up past superficiality and the illusions we’ve created about ourselves. As much as we long for real, deep contact with another human, we often avoid it. But some people are still daring enough, or hurt and vulnerable enough, to bare their true feelings and their shortcomings. Such people are hard to find, but impossible to forget.
In May, my friend Katie and I walked into Wal-Mart with the impression we’d walk out with a card and a couple of pictures. When we walked out we had those items in our arms, but we had so much more on our hearts.
We immediately headed back to the photo section, surveying the familiar goods with a somewhat distracted eye as we talked about the news of the day: our friend Rachael’s graduation, and one of our famous get-togethers. We set up shop at an available kiosk, next to an older lady with a large stack of pictures beside her. Her short white hair had been combed neatly, and she wore little to no make-up. One of the employees joked that she was a new team member, because she stayed there from nine to five, everyday.
As she gracefully and skillfully began to work her way through her pile, questions began to bubble up in me. I could hardly focus on the task of choosing the photos for my friend. The lady had a sad sort of look about her, and seemed to be trying to immerse herself in the present. She even looked over and helped my friend and me get started, engaging us in brief small talk. As we went back to our work, I could still hear the melancholy notes of her voice in the air. She spoke with a hint of a smile, but it was a sad sort of smile. I wondered the meaning behind it. As inquiries raced to my tongue, I could check them. While I was burning with curiosity, I didn’t want to be invasive. I was exceedingly grateful when my friend took the lead and asked the very thing that had been at the forefront of my wonderings: why was she scanning so many pictures?
I remember how she turned every so slightly, as if she was preparing to share something important with us. Katie and I perked up, ready for whatever bizarre explanation we expected for a sixty-some year old woman spending her days at a Wal-Mart photo kiosk. She launched into a description of the thousands of photos she had. She told us how she treasured them greatly, because they were all she had left of her mother and grandmother to tangibly remember them by. Her blue eyes twinkled as she spoke of the memories of the times captured. She told us that she was attempting to preserve that, in the digital age we live in now.
Although that explanation would have sufficed, I dare say Katie and I would have left the store largely the same as when we had entered. However, she didn’t stop there; she spoke of losing her parents and the pain that she experienced. She spoke of her husband. Her voice softened and her eyes began to moisten as she described their life together. Then the real purpose of her photo scanning appeared. While preserving the memories was important, it was more prevalent that just two weeks ago, her husband of decades had passed away. She couldn’t stand to be at home-in their home-without him. She related tales of their childhood together with a slight laugh and told us of her very first kiss from him-a butterfly kiss. Her face lit up as she spoke of their connection and the happiness they had shared. Her love was evident within our first ten minutes speaking with her. She couldn’t stop talking about him, even after knowing each other and living with each other for over forty years. It was such a selfless love, so unconditional. “We never fought once,” she said. “If he hurt my feelings, or I hurt his, we would discuss it, but we understood each other.” I listened to her speak so passionately about the love that had so radically permeated her life, and I wondered if I, too, would experience such a wonderful emotion.
When we began to speak of the latter years of their life together, her face got cloudy. The mood completely shifted as she spoke of his death. “I’m mad at him,” she insisted. She paused. “On our last anniversary, he promised me twenty more,” she said, as her voice cracked slightly. She told us about the funeral, and her little granddaughter sobbing as “they left Grandpa.” It broke this lady’s heart even further, because she too didn’t want to leave her love. She told us about the minister, comforting her, and all the well-meaning people using the cliché “He’s in a better place now.” “How can it be a better place,” she wondered, “if we’re not together?” The pain on her face spoke more than any amount of talking ever could. The tone of her voice slid from the gloomy, melancholy tone to a dark, anguished one. As the expounded on her theories of heaven and hell, I could see the hurt in her face. The emotions were real, more real than almost any I have ever dealt with. She said that she liked the idea of heaven, but if she believed in heaven, she would be obligated to believe in hell, and she hated that idea. As much as she wanted to go to heaven, she thought everyone she knew would be in hell. If that was the case, that’s where she wanted to go, she explained. I didn’t know what to respond to that. She elaborated, adding that she’d just like to go back to wherever she was before she was born. Her expression became almost whimsical, as she imagined whatever she thought that may entail. My heart broke for her.
As the conversation slowly came to an end, I was in ever-increasing awe at the love that she described having for the man who had so recently left her. She told story after story of the great passion and companionship that marked her life, and the sufferings that she had faced with one man beside her through them all. With him, she’d learned to live without her mother, and they’d suffered through the loss of their only son together; he’d held her hand while she watched her father deteriorate due to Alzheimer’s. Each line in her face seemed to represent a crevice that had once been filled by the love of this man. As she so desperately reached out to two teenage girls who happened to be at the right place at the right time, we were changed. Never before had we encountered not only such real and passionate love, but for the first time, we were facing a woman who clearly had no agenda, no impressions to keep up, and no ulterior motives. She simply wanted an ear in which she could pour out her soul.
As we walked away, we could barely speak. The enormity of the message she had shared weighed heavily on us. In the days and weeks that followed it was a subject constantly on my mind. Her wisdom and permeated every aspect of my day to day life. For a long time I could not articulate the impact that she’d had on me, but simple thoughts she shared would come into my mind often. Not only did this woman teach me about the love we ought to have for our family members, she also made real for me a tiny sliver of the love that Christ feels for his own bride, the Church and that kind of a revelation is not one which you can walk away from unchanged.

The First Story: Katie's Graduation

Our first Antique Reunion. Well, the first one that a majority of us went to. After two delightful years of working together we faced a sad fact in the summer of 2008: we couldn't all return to Worlds of Fun (which turned out to be a good thing, for those lucky girls that escaped). Rachael had to enter the real world and take an internship in Kansas. I guess she couldn't work at WOF the rest of her life. Hannah was working at the mall, Khira - due to rising gas prices - had taken a job closer to home. In fact, I hadn't even gone back for a third season. They hadn't invited me back, so I didn't work the first few months. Eventually, I humbled myself and came crawling back, asking for work. At the time of the party, I might have just been re-hired. So Katie was the only current Antique girl. Unfortunately, we'd sort of lost touch with Sunny at that point, and she wasn't able to come that night. But the rest of us reunited to celebrate the end of Katie's high school occasion, what has come to be a the first momentous moment of mediocrity is one's adult life. It's funny how we're pushed so hard to accomplish things that really aren't that uncommon any more. It's also funny that people get so excited when we do.
But we were all so very proud of Katie and her intelligence. We got all dressed up and met for an evening at Zona Rosa. It was one of the first times we'd really all been together at the same time. We were all friends - good friends. But scheduling at Worlds of Fun rarely afforded us the opportunity to be together at the same time. Needless to say, this was a highly anticipated event. And I think it'd be safe to say it lived up to our expectations.
We ate a delicious pizza dinner. I don't remember the name of the restaurant now, but it was dark and decorated modern-ly. It wasn't too busy the night we went, although it was by no means deserted. We ate and talked, giggled and took a few pictures. After dinner, we went outside and stood for a few minutes. Almost immediately we decided to take more pictures. We are, after all, the Antique girls. Pictures are a major part of what brings us together. Luckily, Rachael had a tripod in her purse. We all laughed at the time, because she'd just thrown it in. Rachael carried one of those monstrosities that cannot be classified as a purse. No, this was a bag - maybe even a carry on. And it was adorable, so naturally she wanted to bring it. But with a bag of that size, you simply have to fill it. So you end up throwing in all sorts of stuff that you probably don't need, but could someday find a use for and be grateful to have - a tripod for example. And since that time, we never get together without one.
We took several pictures, although not as many as usual. This one was definitely my favorite and I don't think it's hard to guess the reason. I have no idea why Zona has phone booths decorating the area, but they are incredibly fun to take pictures with. Outside of the restaurant was crowded. It was a beautiful Friday in May and we weren't the only ones enjoying the evening. After picture taking and walking around, we ended up at the $2 Theater.
It occurs to me that this story lacks plot. Really any sort of conflict. And I suppose I could make one up, about Rachael and Khira getting in a huge disagreement over the ice cream choice for the evening or nearly having a throwdown over the post-dinner activities, until Katie interceded and selflessly pointed out that it was her graduation, and she just wanted everyone to get along. Of course, she would say it much more eloquently, and inspiring music would waft over the crowds as Rachael and Khira humbly made amends and insisted that Katie decided whatever they had disagreed over. But that didn't happen. It was a wonderful, conflict free night and I suppose the conflict of this post will have to be that it is conflict-less.

Pictures

I love pictures. There's something about the photo, the memory that it captures, that has always beckoned me. Pictures are precious. They are a link to the past, to a time and place that can never be returned to, except for in the pages of a scrapbook or photo album.
Perhaps this is the bond that we share. Of course, when I say 'we,' I am referring to my best friends, the girls that I worked at Antique with. We've joked before about how we are much closer, much more exciting than the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. But I think it's about time we documented it. I never tire of talking about the Antique girls. They've all changed my life so much, each in different ways. One of my summer projects is this blog: to devote myself to recording our friendship. We've been through so much together, experienced so many fun things. And of course, we have the pictures to prove it.
Allow me to introduce the group now:

Rachael: the oldest, the wisest (perhaps.) Rachael is the designated photographer, usually. At least, we use her camera. She makes the best faces and jokes, she's very witty, and she has great taste in music. Rachael is an artist. She looks at a picture and sees what it can be. She has an incredible eye for composition. So talented!

Hannah: Hannah is sweet. Like, one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. She's always there to help and very creative and artist. Perhaps this is why she's going to make an incredible photographer. She has an eye for beauty, even when its hidden.

Katie: Katie is the genius. The Ivy-leaguer. She's witty and sarcastic and always willing to offer her unique perspective. She's an excellent listener and gives great advice. She always sees the humor in a situation and she's not afraid of working hard.

Sunny: Sunny is the mother. She's always offering advice and looking out for our safety. She's good at it, too. She's a sweetheart, but she has a bite. She can be sarcastic and she'll work for her own way, but there's never any doubt that she cares about you. Oh, and she totally lives up to her name.

Khira: Khira is the small town girl. She's a lot of other things too, but when I think of her, I always think of small towns. She's relaxed, easy to talk to, very ambitious. But she has a bit of red-neck in her...

As for me, I don't know where I fall. I definitely fit in the group. I guess I'm the one of us who will lose hours of sleep over a blog entry because the idea was too thrilling to put off until the morning. But I will wait until the morning to share some of the stories behind the snapshots gracing the heading of this journal de notre amitié. Bonne nuit, blogging world!