365 Days to 30/365 People Who Were Along for the Ride

Day #132 - Casey P

Casey was one of my first good friends when I transferred to Wilmington Friends School. She is in the middle of this picture, which is of us at senior week in Dewey Beach.

Casey was our most even-tempered friend. She could always be counted on for a good opinion, and an honest one. She spent many nights with Asheley (the other friend in this picture) cruising the Pike in Delaware, looking for boys in Jeeps. I used to call her Fraggle and she called me Kirkey. We had a notebook we would pass back and forth, mostly talking about our weekly crushes. Our life was soooo dramatic. ;)

Day #131 - Ben M

Ben is another skating friend from back in the day. We weren't great friends when we were skating, and if you had told me I would not only attend Ben's wedding someday, but I would have set him up with his future wife, I never would have believed you. Funny the way life works.

A year younger than me, Ben ended up going to Lehigh too. I remember running into him the first week of his freshman year. It was good to see a face from home. And I've told you the story of he and Rachel.

Ben and I became friends like we'd never been when skating. He's a great guy, and I loved hanging out with him. Some of our favorite times were Kegs on Ice. Yes, the smartest parties that Lehigh ever had: get a keg, put it in the middle of the ice, let people drink it while skating. Oye. Ben and I always had fun. :)

Day #130 - Steve C

Uncle Steve. :)

Steve married my aunt Debbie, who is my mom's sister. For as long as I can remember, he has been a part of my life. The photo is Steve and I dancing at my cousin Lisa's wedding.

When I was little, I always imagined I would marry a man like Steve. He's a hard worker, a good dad, a good husband, and most importantly, loves golden retrievers. I remember telling Debbie when I met Ken how much he reminded me of Steve.

I e-mailed Steve about something a few weeks ago and he wrote me back, "Dear LaLa," reminding me of the name Steve's two children (Devin and Ryan) used to call me when they couldn't pronounce "Laura." Steve still prefers "Lala." It has a nice ring to it.

Day #129 - Andre G

Andre is my cousin Pam's husband, who consequently was one of last week's people!

Pam was always the cool cousin to me. And when we first met Andre, I knew he would be just as cool as she was. He is smart - an orthopedic surgeon - but a funny, funny guy. I  always looked forward to the Christmas letters that he would author. Family functions are always fun when he is there. An easy conversationalist, he fit right into the family. He is quite simply a great guy.

Day #128 - Brooke T

My junior year, I joined an organization at Lehigh called Panhellenic. It was the "governing board" for all the sororities on campus. I quickly became fast friends with the five other girls on the board, and Brooke was one of those girls.

We were in very different sororities (all of us were), but Brooke and I became friends based on what we had in common: our majors, our ideas of what fun was, and the ability to understand that you can be friends with someone even if they are from a "different world."

I so enjoyed my friendship with Brooke. She and the other girls from Panhellenic even made the trip to our wedding over Christmas break of our senior year. (They also planned a bachelorette party that included a trip to the off broadway musical "Naked Men Singing" - yes, that's exactly what it was.) I can't tell you how much her friendship meant to me. I had friends from Lehigh who had been there since the first week of freshman year, but also this new group I had just met.

Brooke and I recently reconnected over Facebook, and it's so good to hear from her, and see that she's doing well. I'm happy to still call her a friend.

Day #127 - Nancy Kerrigan

I know this won't compare to my Tara Lapinski story but yes, I also met Nancy Kerrigan (after the "whhhhhhy me?" incident). It was another skating show in Philadelphia that we got backstage passes to. I was so nervous about meeting her, and we were literally in the hallway outside their dressing rooms (which were most likely also the dressing rooms for the Philadelphia Flyers, and I can remember how bad it stunk.) A little girl had walked up to Nancy and handed her a teddy bear and asked for a photo. The girl walked away and Nancy said to the person next to her, "Just what I need, another teddy bear."

Hmph. Ungrateful, I thought. She was a beautiful, talented skater, but that was not a way to impress a fan.

Day #126 - Katina H

Katina was a grade school friend. She's a friend I'll never forget because of two things:
1. She had the most unique name of a class filled with "Lauras," "Elizabeths," and the like
2. She had a house with a TON of land and her parents let she and her sister drive around on a golf cart. I was so jealous.

I remember sleepovers at Katina's house (I think her mom was the first to let us watch Dirty Dancing, right mom? tsk tsk tsk). She held the first boy/girl party I ever (awkwardly) attended. Katina and I went our different ways by Middle School, but she's a grade school friend I'll never forget.

Day #125 - Adrian D

Adrian was my tour guide the day I came to see Wilmington Friends School in the middle of my sophomore year in high school. A week later, I was enrolled as a member of the Class of 1997. She is in the far right of this photo of us (with my friend Nikki) at some formal. (Yes, I am a great dancer, what's your point?)

She was the best tour guide. She knew everyone, was smart but fun, athletic, and showed me what a great school Friends was. We remained friends and for the next few years I would always refer to her as my "tour guide." Passing in the hallway, I'd say, "Hey tour guide."

Day #124 - Bob F

Bob was my dad's coworker at DuPont. (It's weird to call him "Bob," because I still refer to him as his full name!) Bob was a graduate of Lehigh. My dad was a graduate of Lafayette. Lehigh/Lafayette is the oldest college rivalry in the United States. Yes, older than Army/Navy or Ohio State/Michigan - read about it here.

So my dad and Bob had a friendly rivalry every year. They might have put a few dollars on it, or a lunch out. I'm hoping my dad can correct this story, because this is how I remember it: Bob heard I was looking at colleges and possibly Lehigh, so he brought the Lehigh viewbook into work for my dad (Bob's brother was a professor in the Business College.) My interest in Lehigh grew; I applied early decision; and found out I was going to be a member of the Class of 2001 on December 21, 1996. Anyone who knows Lehigh/Lafayette would know this meant I would be immediately written out of the will. My dad is forgiving, although he never wore the t-shirt I bought for him that said "Lafayette" on the front and "Because not everyone can get into Lehigh" on the back.

I can't underscore Bob's involvement in my actual acceptance. I was a good student in high school, but I definitely didn't fit Lehigh's profile of high SAT scores and GPAs higher than 3.5. Bob's brother (the one who was the professor) wrote me a recommendation letter like you wouldn't believe. And I think there was a phone call or two from Bob to Lehigh in the midst of all this. (The picture is Bob and I at my high school graduation party.)

My life changed at Lehigh. I met some of the best friends I still have to this day. I decided what I wanted to be when I grew up. I met my husband (OK, not at Lehigh, but while I was there.) I'm not sure any of it would have happened if there wasn't that friendly rivalry between coworkers.

Day #123 - Pete P

Pete was one of Ken's good friends at the Naval Academy - they ran cross country and track together under the (in)famous Al Cantello. Pete and his wife Jen were also stationed in Oklahoma at the same time as us, although in a different squadron.

Pete has since left the military and although we don't hear much from him, when he and Ken talk it's just like old times. Ken had Pete on speakerphone in his car a few weeks ago and it was good to hear the voice of a friend from what feels like a long time ago. :)