Windy City Missy: Friendships

It was a sunny day in the summer of 1990 when I saw a new family moving into the house across the street. Being the clever five-year-old that I was, I decided to ride my bike (still with training wheels--I am sure I got them taken off shortly after this!) around the cul-de-sac until the new kids came outside. Well, I got tired of that quickly and just kept riding in a small circle between our two homes. It worked like a charm because they came out to play in no time! And so went the day that I met Gully and the rest of the Gullickson clan. Approximately three years later, in elementary school, three nights per week involved carpooling with Gamble and others to gymnastics. And about four years after that, during junior high school, my friendships with the remaining three--Casey, Linds, and Sutton--fell into place as well. Since then, these five women have been like sisters to me. Let me just add that I have two (real ha) older siblings that have rocked my socks off since birth. However, in addition to them, I have five pseudo-sisters that have turned my immediate family of five, into a party of ten.

Two years ago, Casey shared a brilliant plan with us all. She had read an article stating that around our age, mid 20s, is the most common time to lose touch with friends. It is the time when people are moving for jobs (Linds, Sutton), or beginning married life with their new spouse (Casey), or starting a whole new family of their own (Gully.) To make sure that this fate did not befall upon our group, Casey suggested we take turns each month to grab the reins of our friendship. This includes sending group emails with updates about big (or small) happenings in our lives; shipping mini care packages just so we each feel special about getting mail; or simply sending out reminder texts when someone has got an interview or test coming up, so that that person will get five "good luck" messages before the big day. Well, May is my month. So, this post is for you gals!

I wish I had photos from the very early days, but alas, I have no idea where I stored them. Still, below are a few gems, starting from high school ha!

Freshman year of high school...

Senior year of high school... Beckner brought the Elle Girl Fashion Show to BBCHS via her awesome writing skills.

High school graduation...

Freshman year of college... This was the first visit the girls made to U of I. This photo was actually taken the next morning and Linds had been cracking us up all day: "Just leave me here, please!"