Mine.

Annalisa came to see me this weekend. Not exclusively, of course, although that would have been lovely--but I kept my eyes cracked open long enough to pick her up from the airport last night and get her back to my apartment in one piece. I got to keep her until church was over. It was lovely.

Then, of course, I had to give her up. It was not so lovely. I might have smeared my makeup somewhat.

This morning, as we're crowding in my little bathroom and doing hair and makeup, she said, "It's so hard not having you around to talk to. I mean, it's not like I can just call you up and say, 'Hi. I just saw a turtle.'"

Except, in all actuality, I would LOVE to hear that she just saw a turtle. I would want a full description of said turtle. I would encourage her to touch the turtle, salmonella and all. So we decided that, next time she sees a turtle, she will call me. I may send her texts of turtles as a reminder.

I can't tell you how good she was for my soul. Having one of my people around is always like a drug in my veins, and she's especially fabulous. Especially her hair. I mean, if I had hair like that, I wouldn't even worry about going to college, or graduate school. I would just walk around with that hair and say, Yes, this is my life. And the world would worship me.

For those of you who don't know her, she's spontaneous and bubbly. She says the most outrageous things, and she has this purr to her voice. If she tells you that there's a carton of milk in the fridge, suddenly it sounds like the sexiest carton of milk in the world. In the universe. You would totally date that carton of milk. And you should hear her when we're talking about men. Rrrrrrr.

So, thinking about her visit, and missing her even though I know she's still about 10 miles away, I started thinking about ALL of you. My people. The ones I let inside my shell, the ones that love me, the ones I would do anything for, anytime, anywhere. Including kill. I don't know how many bodies I've seriously offered to dispose of for Becca alone. Yes, you know who I'm talking about.

We aren't afraid to get close. We're on a free-space recycling mission to save the world, one heap of people at a time. I haven't found that here, yet. It always sounds too much like an ulterior motive. "Hi. Hug me, please? Love me?" My courage isn't quite that high. I'm not good at reaching out to people.  

But, I love people. My people. This thing we have. I need to remember how I broke out of my bubble and let them in when we all first met. It was so worth it. I'm still working on that.

We all look so young, here. That was such a hard night, for me. But look at them. They're not all here, of course, but this was the start of a circle that literally saved me. It was also the first night I stood on that balcony overlooking the river. Now, we're all danced there countless times--amazingly good memories to be had.

Oh, and they taught me to climb. Which is even better.

Some of the best Sabbaths I've ever spent were at Foster, with them. Especially when the boys brought dried Ramen. And we tried to start a campfire but all of the lighters mysteriously ran out of fluid, and we nearly froze to death. Or like the time we were camping, and...you get the picture.

Of course, we morphed a little over the years. Schreven was already gone for this part of college. I miss that boy. Some lucky girl someday...oh, that boy.

And gradually, our group shrank until it was only Gardner and the girls...*laughs* just kidding! I love this picture. You can tell he's thrilled that we're all so close to him. :-D

Some of my girls. We're outrageous. And nobody can make facial expressions like 'Riah.

And this is the most astoundingly beautiful, witty, scandalous sister who ever made the boys sit up and say, "Wow. There goes the most amazing thing I've ever laid eyes on." But while the boys may come and boys may go, she's stuck with me forever.

And of course Frank, who's been my friend ever since those turbulent academy days. This was at his baptism a few years ago. He got both sisters at once. :-D 

My family, back in the days of the matching pajama bottoms (which I made out of Alex's old curtains, and he wore to make me happy). This was one of our last days in the old house. I miss them terribly.

Sometimes it's not about the picture. Sometimes it's just about having your arms around the most incredible people in the world, and having them hold back so hard.

I hope you guys didn't mind indulging me in a little bit of remembering. It was theraputic for me.