Have you ever heard the saying that at some point a girlfriend stops being a friend and becomes a sister? Well Carrie is like that to me. We never see each other and it has been about 10 years since we last saw one another, but we have always stayed in touch. It has been fun watching her family grow and seeing her as a mother, she is truly a natural born mother and wife.
Carrie and I met the second day of junior high at the bus stop, I had walked there from my apartment down the street. I had this uber cool friend Abbie, she was chic even at 12. Anyways, Abbie says to me " Don't talk to that girl, she is a nerd!" and looks over at Carrie who is leaning against the fence reading Anne of Green Gables. Right then I learned one of the most profound lessons in my life, Never judge a book by it's cover. Being one to always strike my own path, I talked to her because she was reading my most favorite book. We became fast friends, especially because we got put in the same homeroom together. Now poor Carrie got paired with a extremely hyper table mate who was obsessed with New Kids on the Block.
Here is Carrie's favorite story to tell about that time: One day I told her " Hey come here, I have a secret to tell you" and when she leaned over I screamed at the top of my lungs in her ear and laughed hysterically. I was so wound up that day and had to get my energy out somehow, but poor Carrie she probably suffers from permanent hearing loss!
We traversed the ugly path of jr high school and even took the most exciting trip of our lives together. We went to Washington,DC for our 8th grade trip, it was so fun to see history together and we both still talk about it to this day. We survived those crazy bus rides to school together and just today she said to me " Hey, when I heard New Kids were getting back together, I thought of you." and " I remember the story of you and Liviu!" she knows the story and I will tell you why.
One of the things Carrie would always do is share her love of Jesus with me. She grew up in a Christian home and loves the Lord, she was always telling me about God and sometimes I wasn't very nice about it.
When we moved on to high school we both had to walk to school. So for the next 3 years we walked to school together everyday back and forth. Boy, that was a experience, one time we got flashed and possibly almost abducted, it was awful!
So the story goes, I would talk Carrie into walking the longer way home so we could follow Liviu home. Poor Carrie, once again she fell prey to one of my hair brained schemes, I am cracking up writing this.
The next year she joined swimming and got really mad at me because I copied her, I really loved it and I am so glad I copied her. She excelled in school and was the best student I knew, she ended up being our Salutatorian at graduation. High school was a bit rough on our friendship at times and we both went through some really tough things. She was always there for me with my family stuff and really knows a lot about my home life growing up. Her mom who I like to call Miss Nancy really encouraged me to be a good student and attend school ( she once called me because I missed five days with strep throat). Her mom would also give us rides when it rained and opened there home to me more than once. They had such a nice family and a super cool dog Bandit. Carrie joined me in Speech and Debate our senior year and we ended up winning two trophies together.
After high school she went on to college and I went on to working and being in LOVE. She was one of the first people I called to tell I was getting married. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and saw Conner right after he was born. I was able to go to her wedding and see her start out life with Chase. She is a wonderful wife and mother, very talented teacher and a good friend. I love you so much Carrie and I thank you for being a seed planter in my life. You never turned your back on me and stuck by me even when I didn't deserve it. Happy 32nd birthday my wonderful friend! psst, if you click on my title you can see what she looks like now.
Senior year:
In my wedding:
At her wedding, she was a beautiful bride:
