bittersweet symphony

At Dr. Westmoreland's house for the Senior Reception.

In the midst of exams, projects, and attempting to fit everything I own into the back of a car, this week was also a time of facing the fact that most of my friends were about to graduate and leave those Samford gates for good. We tried to soak in every last minute of our time here. We tried to check off every last thing we always wanted to do, but never got around to. We smelled the roses (in the rose garden), we watched the sunset (Vestavia Baptist Church), we ate until we couldn't eat anymore (hello, treadmill). I've talked about this before, but I have been blessed with the most wonderful friends I could ever ask for. I met most of my best friends before the first weekend at Samford ever ended. My best friend even made me a picture frame for my birthday one year with a quote that I said to her about that. It was something to the effect of, "I prayed so hard that I would find good friends before I got to Samford, but I never knew I would find my best friend on the second day." Words cannot describe how blessed I have been over these past four years and how much each and every one of these friends mean to me. I feel incomplete without them. 

I felt like a proud mama watching my friends walk across the stage for graduation. It is so hard to believe that it has been four years and that it could even possibly be time for caps and gowns (maybe that's because I'm on the 5 year plan... ). Of course I was a blubbering bucket of tears for the past two weeks, especially when thinking about the fact that we might not all end up in the same city. Equally sad was the thought that I might not see my friends' families quite as often as in the past. They've meant so much to me as well. On the drive home, though, I found a great peace in the thought that God is in control, and that things are going to work out how HE wants them to. Worrying about the future is not going to change anything, except maybe the wrinkles on my face. In the end, I'm just so grateful to have formed these friendships, and I just pray that they remain strong and grow even deeper. 

Now, since I'm the only one left, I guess that makes me an empty nester? Hmm...

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Couldn't have summed it up better myself.

Then and now.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!