Girls of Malone Reunion, 2010

Let me tell you a little story about a group of girls who started their college experience at Malone University, although back then it was still called Malone College, seven years ago. These girls were in the same humanities class. The girls hit it off, and soon you couldn't find one without the rest of them. They went to lunch and dinner together at the cafeteria. They did their homework together. They watched movies while they should have been studying together. They spent most Wednesday nights at the dollar theater, because college students could get in of $.50 on Wednesdays. And there wasn't a Tuesday night that went by that we didn't always gather together in our friend Caryn's (Karn's) room to watch Gilmore Girls.

I remember laughing until I cried with these ladies, and also crying on the shoulder of many of them. They were the friends who took me and our friend Meredith out after we had both had bad break ups so that we could all get something pierced. And our friend Tessa, who worked at The Added Touch, pierced them for us. Every time I wear earrings in my double-pierced ears, I am reminded of these ladies.

Sadly, after our freshman year, a lot of the group went separate ways. Meagan and Jami transferred, and Hayley and I became commuters. Everyone else became better friends with the people in their majors.

Luckily with the invention of facebook sometime around our sophomore year, I was able to connect with all of these ladies. So for the past seven years, I have kept up with them, watching them get married and start to have children.

A couple of weeks ago, a few of the Malone girls had a brilliant idea: to have a reunion!

The reunion was set for yesterday, and during the 1.5 hour drive I was jittery with excitement to see these ladies!

When I finally arrived, it was like no time had passed at all. We all picked up right where we left off. I think it takes a great group of friends to be able to do that! We talked and talked, all day long, and laughed until our sides hurt. Before we knew it, four hours had passed, and I'm sure we could have easily sat there and talked for four more, but we all had things we had to get home to. We did decide that we are making this reunion a two-times-a-year event: we'll have one in the summertime, and one at Christmastime.

It was so crazy to see how much these ladies had changed and grown. The reunion was held at Jami's house. Since our freshman year of college, Jami has gotten married, had adorable twins (a boy and a girl) three years ago, and also had another beautiful daughter just a few months ago. She is living my dream of being a stay-at-home mom! Also present were:

Tessa and her family. AKA, the one who put the second set of holes in my ears. She got married soon after our freshman year, had her first son three months before we all graduated (!!!) and just had a beautiful daughter a year and a half ago. She works casual part time as a nurse, but spends most of her time at home with her kids.

Hayley and her husband Paul. Hayley was an ed. major like me, so we were in the same classes all through college. But yesterday was the first time I'd seen her in over three years! Hayley is married, and recently found out she is expecting their first. After subbing and teaching for three years, has decided to become a stay-at-home mom as well.

Kelly. Kelly was also an education major at Malone. She got married and also recently found out she is expecting her first. (She and Hayley are due about a month apart). She is currently looking for a teaching job in the area, because she just moved back from South Carolina.

Caryn, AKA Karn. Karn got her nickname because one of our professors could never say her name right. She was also an ed. major. Karn got engaged our senior year like me, and is now married. She is the only other one who is married and does not yet have children, so I didn't feel so alone. Ha! She is currently living in Pittsburgh and teaches her own special ed. classroom.

Meagan. Meagan is not married yet, but in a serious relationship. She has become somewhat of a career woman, and she works at a big company, and she loves it.

Liz. Liz is in a similar situation to Meagan and is not married but in a serious relationship. She is also a career woman and says that after being around Jami's kids and Tessa's kids all day yesterday, and hearing all of their pregnancy stories, she will never have kids. Haha!

And I think that rounds out the list. A few of us couldn't make it, but I think it is just so funny that we all ended up so close to one another (within an hour or two). Also funny is the fact that so many of us pictured ourselves as teachers or nurses or executives, and now so many of us have shifted our gears and do or want to stay home with our kids. It was crazy how much we all still had in common after being apart for so many years!

My parents have a group of friends from high school and college that they see twice a year: on New Years Day and on Memorial Day. I've grown up feeling like they were my second family, and their kids are some of my best friends. I've always wished I could have something like that, and I think this is it! I absolutely can't wait until our Christmas party! It will be so much fun to connect with these ladies and their families then. And by that time, Hayley and Kelly will be bursting with pregnancy. I can't wait to see their cute baby bellies ;-)

My camera is shot, so I didn't get any pictures yesterday. But I DID find two pictures hidden in the back corners of my computer from some of us during our freshman year, circa 2003/2004.

Here some of us are on one of our Gilmore Girls nights! Christina is in the front (she couldn't make it yesterday) that's Hayley, me, Karn, and our friend Meredith who also wasn't there yesterday in the back.
And here some of us are right before the piercing party! In the front we have me, Rachel, and Karn, and in the back we have Meagan, Jami, Meredith, and Hayley.
I wish I could have taken a picture or two yesterday! We have all changed so much. It is so awesome to see where everyone is six years later!