Day 32- Emily Lengel

Hey guys!

    Fair warning: today's post is incredibly emotional, and I may or may not be able to make it through this post without crying. Emily, she is a star. She is so much more than a mentor to me, she has become like a sister to me.

   Our friendship blossomed out of tragedy. Emily was Graham's girlfriend. One day after they "officially" started dating, Graham collapsed. Emily never had the opportunity to hold his hand, or be able to call him her boyfriend. Graham was a very meticulous, logical, and strategically oriented person, so when Graham and Emily realized that they both liked each other, Graham was incredibly hesitant. He had JUST broken up with his high school girlfriend, Amanda, the summer before he left for college, and he really struggled with that. As someone who could see the situation from another standpoint, it was almost comical, ALMOST. It was so clear to me that Graham was really and genuinely happy for the first time since he left Amanda, so we as a family couldn't really understand his hesitancy. But God knew what he was doing.Emily almost had it easier than Amanda. She had less history with him, but she came back to Wheaton, a place she had shared with Graham, and was bombarded by memories and reminders of him, everywhere she went.

   Now, I want to talk a bit about how Emily made her way into MY life. When I first heard Graham talking about her, I was happy, and I couldn't wait to meet her. Ironically enough, I didn't actually EVER meet her until she and I were sitting in the hospital waiting room. We had already had established a little bit of a connection via Facebook, so it was SUCH a great thing for both of us, to have someone to hold and hug during that ridiculously hard five days. One of the biggest things I remember Emily doing was she got a lot of Graham's friends at Wheaton to write him letters and cards, and I remember seeing my sister sitting in his room while Graham was unconscious reading him those precious cards, it was one of the rare moments of those five days where the sarcasm, and humor of Freshman boys and girls truly made us laugh, and smile. One big thing she did for me was that, she really never left my side. When we were both there at the hospital, we were together. We never went into Graham's room without the other, and even after Graham was gone, she wasn't.

    I remember after the burial, a lot of Graham's friends that I had grown close to in the past couple days, had to leave for college. I was heartbroken, I was terrified. I wasn't ready to just leave all those friendships that I had made, because they had become a part of me, and a part of our family. When I got home, I called her, sobbing. I was so terrified that I would just be thrown back into "normal" life, where no one understood what I was feeling. I remember her telling me as I sat there sobbing, "Girlie...I will never leave you, NEVER! You are stuck with me, whether you like it or not. You have a special place in my heart, and I have a special place in yours, and THAT will never change." And she was right. During the next few months as we both continued to get back into our "normal" lives, we still remained friends. Whether it was grabbing a coffee at Starbucks, going to see Emily preform a song in her dormroom lobby, or even Skypeing in the midst of both of our crazy busy lives, we always talked, laughed, had fun, and above all, we talked about the REAL things. When we asked the other, "How are you?" the nonchalant and forever FAKE "Good!" was rarely heard. It was more like..."Today was rough..." or "You know, it's life..." which would lead into a breakdown of those emotions, whether good or bad.

    Emily is basically the female mix of me and Graham. She has the smarts and logical mind of my brother, but at the same time, she has this crazy ability to understand every emotion or problem that I came to her with. She always knows EXACTLY what to say, it's actually sort of scary...there are so many times that I've just been like..."Ok. What the heck, why couldn't I think of that??" of course, she being Emily will simply reply, "Because God made us to have community, sometimes we just need to talk to someone else..." and I just sit there, utterly dumbfounded. I miss her more than words can say, but I am so proud of her next mission to be an RA at Wheaton, and I am SO excited to see where God takes her this next year, and I am so proud to know her, to love her, and to be able to call her one of my favorite people on Earth. I am so blessed to have her as a friend, and when I think of her, and our friendship, my heart is overflowing with happiness, I am beyond blessed to have her as a friend, a mentor, and to love her like a sister.

<3 Always,
Rose