Another special day

Today is another day I desperately wish I was in Ohio. My good friend Kristine is getting married today, and since I live 1,000 miles away and gave birth to my sweet little panda (also known as sad panda, angry panda, hungry panda, poopy panda, etc.) three weeks ago, I'm not able to be there physically.

Kristine and I met in high school - sophomore year, to be exact. We were in the Stark County Honors Flute Choir, a group of high school students who performed with the Mount Union (then) College flute choir. We practiced once a week and performed about a half dozen times across the state, at flute festivals, the college, nursing homes, etc. We played challenging music, and since we were associated with the elite college group, we were supposed to behave with the utmost decorum.

The problem was Kristine and I were high school sophomores, and we often acted like it :) We frequently joked that we'd be the first people ever kicked out of flute choir. We went to different high schools, so the only time we saw each other was usually at flute choir practices or performances, and we'd sometimes get the giggles - and consequently, a glare from the director or some of the older choir members.

We stayed close for the three years we were in flute choir together, and after graduation, she enrolled at the area campus of Kent State University, while I went to the main campus. After sophomore year of college, though, Kristine wanted to transfer to the main campus, which included a move to the dorms. She asked if I wanted to be roommates, and I quickly agreed, not knowing what I was getting myself in to :)

We lived in a suite with two people who quickly became friends. One of them, Katie, lived with us our senior year, along with Claudia, a close friend I met in high school through journalism camp. We have some amazing memories of living on the seventh floor of McDowell Hall, and I have to admit that Kristine, Katie and Claudia definitely made me "live a little" during my last two years of college. Kristine was notorious for opening her closet to me for nights out in downtown Kent or Akron - I was like a 20-year-old Barbie doll in need of wardrobe assistance any time we went out :) We had an amazing spring break senior year - the four suitemates, in addition to our honorary suitemate, Jon, piled in to a car with a ton of luggage and drove to Panama City for a week of sun and mayhem. I have a lot of memories from college that I wouldn't trade for the world, and Kristine is a part of many of them.

I've known Kristine for 12 years, and a few years ago she started dating a guy she met through work. Tim and I met up with them while they were vacationing near us a few years ago, and I instantly knew that this relationship was different. They just seemed so comfortable around each other - it was a perfect fit. I could tell that Doug and Kristine were a good match, and we've enjoyed spending time with them several times since then. I've always loved that they just seem so real around each other and others - there is no false pretense, no awkwardness in the way that Doug acts around me or others that he has only known for a few years. He totally fits in with the McDowell crowd - I just wish we had known him during our college days!

Kristine and I have stayed close friends - she has come to Florida several times in the last few years (photo above is from one of those visits, although it would probably be more entertaining if I pulled out some of our flute choir and college photos!), and it has always been great to visit with her. I try to see her and the rest of the McDowell girls any time I'm in Ohio, and during a visit last year I got to meet Doug and Kristine's sweet daughter, who was born last October. It is amazing to believe we've gone from disrupting flute choir practice years ago to working mothers of cute little girls.

And today, Kristine and Doug are getting married. I couldn't be more happy for them, and while I wish I could be there to celebrate this joyous day with the newlyweds and the McDowell crowd, I know that Kristine is going to be a gorgeous bride, and they are going to have the time of their lives, surrounded by friends and family. Happy wedding day, Roomiemate - I love and miss you, and I'm so happy for you and Doug :)