My Sisters, My World

"If I paid for my friends, I sure didn't pay enough." - Anonymous

 

(personal photo)

I was lucky enough to spend the weekend with ten sorority sisters from college. I'm fortunate enough to have two living just down the road, but the rest are scattered across the country. One friend flew in from Maryland; another took a plane from Ohio. The rest drove or trained in from Michigan. It was one of the first times we've all been together without husbands, fiances and boyfriends in years.

Gone are the days when we lived in our house together or saw each other multiple times per week. I miss waking up to a sister eating breakfast in the kitchen, gathering in another sister's bed for a marathon TV session and the getting-ready-for-a-night-out craziness that occurred at least twice a weekend. (Note: Weekend = Thursday to Sunday.) This weekend, we ate, we shopped, we drank, we gossiped and traded notes on other college friends, we ate and drank some more and just spent time being silly together. It was divine and fabulous, and I'm going to be upset next weekend when six of my sisters aren't sitting on my bed while another curls her hair or rummages through my closet and the rest blare music from the living room. The weekend came at a time when I desperately needed quality girl time and a fun night out, and I'm incredibly thankful for it.

So much of our lives we spend waiting. I "couldn't wait" for this weekend. I vividly remember not being able to "wait" to move out of the sorority house, being anxious to graduate. Now, I would give my left arm to for our Thursday night routine: IM-ing with other sorority sisters about where we'd "predrink," finding the perfect outfit from someone's closet, heading over to a sister's apartment for pre-bar fun, calling 779-TAXI for a ride to the "The Pub" just before 11 p.m. -- and, once there, immediately purchasing three Long Island Ice Teas before the special ended -- closing the night out at "The Stone" and then making the very difficult decision to eat Jimmy John's or Papa John's. (Ok, that's a little drastic, but you get my point.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is... carpe diem! I personally need to stop saying, "I can't wait to get married" or "I can't wait until this work project is done" or "I can't wait until next weekend" and enjoy the very moment I'm living. As I head into another crazy busy, freezing cold week of work, marathon training, volunteering, wedding planning and so on, that's my goal.

Who's with me?