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

Day #315 - Diane O.

Dianne is one of my dad’s first cousins on the Kirk side. She has three sons and I remember them well from our Kirk family reunions. Her youngest son, Jimmy, was a few years younger than me and always ran around with a life preserve on in case he fell in the pool. He’s a grown man now and probably still hears about that life preserver!

Dianne has always been supportive of me and has stayed good friends with her, even now after the family reunions are a thing of summers past.

Day #314 - Dave F.

Oh awkward day! Dave was the first crush I had upon transferring to Wilmington Friends. And what an embarrassing, horrific, teenage crush it was. It was the one (I’m sure most girls had one like this) that you ran into a locker when you saw him in the hallway, stumbled on your words within 10 feet of him, and wrote endless notes to your girlfriends wondering WHEN he would notice you. There are so many awkward memories for me associated with Dave I could write a short story about it. But I won’t.

I’ll just say that I moved on past my crush. Dave went to college and there was someone new to break my heart. But a few months ago, I became friends with Dave on Facebook and turns out he lives about a half-mile from where I work. We have friends in common! And you know what he said, “I see your high school stalking has followed you into adulthood.”

And here I am, mortified all over again. He knew the whole time about my crush. How embarrassing. How royally embarrassing. And laughable.

Day #313 - Steve B.

Steve is Ken’s uncle (and godfather), who I have always enjoyed spending time with. He is married to Ken’s aunt Kathy who I also really like! Steve worked for many years in the automobile industry and is the picture of an All-American worker. He and Kathy have since moved to Florida and I miss seeing them both at family events out in Ohio.

Day #312 - Colby R.

Colby was a coworker of mine at the Naval Academy. He was a quiet, timid guy who I tried unsuccessfully to set up with my good friend Carolyn (good thing it didn’t work out since she has since found the love of her life!) He was always a fun guy to hang around with and a very hard worker.

Day #311 - Jaylene W.

Everyone knows how fortunate I was to get the position I did at the University of Oklahoma right after graduating from Lehigh. But that position came at a cost.

I worked for the first few months we lived in Oklahoma at an advertising agency. I hated it and started applying for jobs almost immediately. I applied for the Director of Communications position at the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering. Like most state institutions, there was a central HR office and my resume got lost in some shuffle.

Jaylene was a coworker of mine at the agency. I knew she was looking for a job too, and one day she pulled me aside to tell me about the interview she had for the job at OU (the one I had applied to). I was a little taken aback that I hadn’t gotten a call, so I decided to call the College and see why I hadn’t been called in for an interview. Turns out they hadn’t gotten my resume. They brought me in for an interview and a few weeks later I was hired.

And I always felt a little bit guilty about Jaylene. She was a really sweet, kind girl, and if she hadn’t said anything to me about this job…Well, what’s happened, happened right? And she never held it against me. She went on to another great job and we stayed in touch.

Day #310 - Sande K.

Sande is a fellow Garden Girl at Two Peas in a Bucket. She is a momma to three really great boys, so I have a feeling I will be tapping her for advice in the coming years. She is also a really talented digital designer.

I got to meet Sande a few years ago at a trade show and she was just like I expected – smart and funny.

Day #309 - Tilly the Dog

Tilly was my Aunt Barbara and Uncle David’s golden retriever before Tess, and before Shea. Like every golden our family has known, Tilly was a sweet, kind girl. It was growing up with my family’s goldens that made me sure that one day I would have a dog. And it would be big and furry. And gold.

I remember the day Tilly passed away – I was in college – I can’t remember what year, but my mom called in tears to tell me about our sweet girl. It has always felt when a dog passes that a member of our family is passing too.

Day #308 - Peter N.

Peter was a neighbor of mine growing up and his mom and my mom were good friends. We were always friends, and then sophomore year he asked me to a dance. I was so clueless. Clueless. And I was sort of dating this hoodlum at Peter’s school. I went to the dance, but completely gave Peter the cold shoulder. I later found out that he had asked me as “more than a friend,” and always felt bad. The hoodlum didn’t last long as a boyfriend and I would have been better off spending that time with Peter.

Senior year, I went to the Salesianum prom with my high school boyfriend Pat, and Peter took our neighbor and friend Kate. It was a nice reunion.

Day #307 - Bonnie B.

Bonnie and I were members of the Panhellenic Executive Council at Lehigh my senior year. I’ve talked about some of the other girls I served on this council with, and Bonnie was just as special to me.

By your senior year in college, you have so many of your friendships already set in place – most people aren’t looking for new ones. But the five of us came together to lead this group and instantaneously became friends. A bunch of random, different personalities that somehow clicked.

Bonnie was a beautiful sweetheart. She was our treasurer and was so smart. She recently got married and was such a beautiful bride. Made me miss our little group.

Day #306 - Katie C.

Katie was my big sister in Pi Phi at Lehigh. And she was the BEST. I remember Big/Little day and how happy I was that she had chosen ME! Katie is literally one of the sweetest people I have ever known. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard her say a negative thing. About anyone. She was giggly and friendly. She was loving and caring those nights when I came home and just wanted a shoulder to cry or lean on. In every way, for those three years she was very much a big sister.

Katie has since moved to Boston with her husband Rocco and has two beautiful daughters who are mini-Katies. Maybe our little man can meet one of them some day.