Hey guys,
So, depending on how well you know me, you have probably heard me talk about "my three musketeers", but what you may not know is this, it's actually not the three musketeers, rather it is the 3E Musketeers. There are three girls on the same floor, of the same dorm, of Wheaton College that truly make my heart smile, and have truly made me who I am today, their names are; Rachel, Krista, and Emily.
I wanted to start with Rachel, because she and I most definitely have the most "history". Ironically, she didn't even start out as my friend, but rather, she was my brother's best friend's girlfriend, but, as we all know, that changed. After we lost Graham, Rachel took me under her wings, and began to love me as a friend, not as her boyfriend's deceased best friend's younger sister, which I really appreciated! Rachel has become like an extended member of our family, she loves the boys, of course, but I really appreciated that she loved ME. Obviously, I am not the one my parents are normally devoting all their time and energy to, but Rachel took it upon herself to not let me slip through the cracks, because she loved me, because of who I am, NOT because of my last name. This all happened her senior year of high-school, and I can remember the day she got accepted to Wheaton, we were all meeting for a babysitting benefit at the church, and she was SO excited, it was so clear that that is where God had called her to be.
The second member of the 3E musketeers is the wonderful Krista. Krista was, and still is Rachel's roommate. We actually met through a worship night that was held every Wednesday at 8:23 in honor of Graham. Honestly, I have no idea WHAT it was about the two of us, but we were kind of just drawn to each other from day 1, and we quickly became good friends as well. Krista seemed genuinely interested in me, which made me smile, although again, I'm not quite sure why. Basically everyone that came to those Wednesday night worships were genuinely interested in me and my life, but again, for some reason, Krista and I gravitated towards each other.
I chose to end with Emily for two reasons; first, I did not meet her through Rachel, or through ANY of my brothers friends at Wheaton for that matter, and secondly, she and I have an awesome connection and history that is unique ONLY to us. The first Sunday we met, she was a college leader, and I was a senior in high school, we started talking, and realized that the two of us had grown up a mere 2 BLOCKS from each other and never known it! How cool is that? Just wait, it gets cooler...:) Within a few weeks of the two of us becoming friends, we realized something else that we had in common, she had lost her Dad only a few years earlier! I cannot even tell you how much of a blessing it was to have Emily as I grieved, on the bad days, she'd reassure me that no, I'm not bipolar, no I'm not grieving wrong, I'm just having a bad day. On the good days, she reassured me that no I shouldn't feel guilty about having a good day, and no, I shouldn't be waiting for something to come and mess it up. As I considered baptism in the second semester of my senior year, I was told that I had to have a baptismal mentor, who would walk me through a baptism study prior to being baptized, and would be the one to pray for me right before I got baptized. In about 3 seconds, I KNEW, it had to be Emily, there was just no one else quite as perfect as the baptism pair of Rose and Emily. In the months before the baptism, we began meeting once a week, and walking through the baptism study together. Of all the awesome and unique connections that Emily and I have, for me, what really solidified and strengthened our friendship was that baptism study. Going into the baptism, I knew it would be hard to not have Graham there, but there was one thing that I wasn't exactly counting on...the date. I got baptized on the EXACT one year anniversary of Graham's death, and what's even more astounding is that I was baptized at exactly 8:23, which is the EXACT time that Graham took his last breath 365 days before, how cool is that??
I was blessed to spend my Saturday with all three of these wonderful people. We had heartfelt reunions, deep talks, trips to the popcorn shop, and just an awesome day of bonding in our friendship. I love you three, and I still can't believe that I might ACTUALLY be a 3E lady next year!!!
<3 Always,
Rose
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