Mini-Reunion: Loralea, Brian, Kaylea and Brianna

Me and My Roomie

After my May mini-reunion with Hadley, I had a June mini-reunion with Loralea. 

Brian, Brianna, Loralea, and Kaylea

The last time I saw Loralea she was six months pregnant with her oldest daughter, Kaylea. I have so desperately wanted to meet her little girls for such a long time. Loralea's senior apartment had their own mini-reunion, and then she and her family zipped up to PA for a quick overnight visit. It was a whirlwind for sure, but we squeezed in as many hugs and 'I love yous' as possible. :)

Brianna Plays 'Baby'

Kaylea and Brianna are sweet, loving little girls just like their mommy and daddy, and full of a willingness to give hugs! :) The girls really enjoyed playing with my old Cabbage Patch dolls, my first baby doll, the wooden high chair, the baby bottles and the doll clothes. They were especially excited to discover that Cabbage Patch dolls came with diapers. Ha! I loved seeing new life breathed into my old toys.

Look! A Davidson Bookstore Goodie!

Loralea and her family made a stop at the Davidson bookstore on their way up from South Carolina. We now have matching long-sleeve t-shirts (is there a better kind of t-shirt?).  I am super excited about this, because we love us some long-sleeve t-shirts from Davidson. 

Fast Friends: Brian and Gershwin

Brian and Gershwin became fast friends. Gershwin settled into Brian's lap and didn't move for so long that at one point Brian said: "Are you dead?!" Brian is a K-9 officer who is used to a much more active dog in the home!

Me, Loralea and Kaylea (she looks like a mini-Loralea)

Davidson spends a great deal of time, energy and effort pairing Freshman roommates together. A committee uses a combination of a survey of hobbies, subjects you feel strongest and weakest in, etc.; the Myers-Briggs test; your four entrance essays; and your transcripts to pair roommates. 

One of Davidson's greatest gifts to me was in pairing me with Loralea as my freshman roommate. We are two people who seem so very different on the surface that we may never have become friends otherwise. 

We also lived together sophomore year and were able to visit each other when we both traveled abroad junior year. Had I been a better roommate to Loralea in those first two years, we may have lived together all four years!

Loralea will never know the extent to which she changed me as a person. She is one of the kindest, most loving, most forgiving, most generous people I know. Over the years she opened my heart, she taught me to love more openly, she taught me to be more patient, she taught me to be more forgiving, she taught me to be less judgmental. We hugged each other every night before bed, we always knew where the other person was, we always said I love you, and we were the perfect match of silliness and goofiness. 

Recently the President of Davidson, Carol Quillen, said that the reason alumni give back to Davidson is because of their gratitude to the institution for the relationships formed and the education received. For me, this is certainly the case. Davidson was a challenging, sometimes tumultuous experience for me, but the end result was the most loyal and faithful friends and an enduring legacy of learning.

Thank you Loralea, Brian, Kaylea and Brianna for making the long journey to PA! We can't wait to see you again! 

Blessings,

Emily