Love and Friendship

On Valentine’s day, I enjoy sending cards to my girlfriends in celebration of friendship, love, and gratitude. Love is so much more than a couple.

Rumi wrote that “Love is the vital core of the soul”. I couldn’t agree more.

This year my alma mater, Maryville University,  put out a call for alumni love stories to share throughout the month of February and with the help of girlfriends we submitted ours. It was fun and heartwarming to revisit all these memories. Here’s our story:

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One of the best things about my experience at Maryville was meeting my tribe during my freshman year. In reflection, nearly 21 years since graduation, our tribe is still going strong. Maryville gave us the gift of community which enabled us to build our school family. This bond carried us through four years of ice cream socials, roommate changes, spring breaks, naps in the quad, major changes, internships, study abroad, first loves, heartbreak, and sickness. Our evenings were filled with dinners in the cafeteria, studying in the hallway, time in the computer lab and endless laughter. Thursdays at 7 pm were sacred. Every week we piled into one room with pizza to watch Friends and ER (forever fans of George Clooney).

Fast forward, our tribe has weathered many life events together: engagements, weddings, births, deaths, distance, relocations, jobs, and kids. Through it all, we remain the constant. Three of us married our #MUAlumniSweetheart, one of us married the ESL study abroad student, and two married wonderful men outside our MU community. Our tribe is the gift of love, acceptance, support, comfort, and understanding. 

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I hope you have a chance to share some love, kindness, friendship, and gratitude with someone you adore today.

Happy Valentine’s Day!