Going Back To My Happy Place...

It was the summer of 1999 and I had no idea how my last year at SVC was going to turn out. Both of my roommates, my two partners in crime were now married, B and I were not dating at that point, and my outlook had changed a bit over the summer. It could go any way!

Once again I was required to get back to BV, Va before school actually started to get back for practice (soccer). There is a reason why coaches require teams to be together, all alone, before the year begins and it makes perfect sense. Unity is their primary goal.
Right from the start, what would come to be later known as the "girls club", were unified and solid. We were leaders, we were witty, we were "horne...horne...horne", we were rebellious, we were devout, we were classy, we were not shy, we were supportive, we were mature yet immature, we were in your face, we were not fearful, we were competitive, we were hilarious, we all came from different worlds but all understood where we had been, we gave when/what was needed, and we made memories that only we could have made.

Because I was the oldest, because I was an athlete, because I had a reputation from the previous year...I was given the title of "The Ringleader". This title annoyed me when coming from The Dean's lips but was comical when talking amongst friends. Whatever, right?!?


I have talked about this before...the fact that my sis Jenny and I were known as the "Trickery Terry sisters" and here is proof...This was the day before graduation and we were goofing around taking pictures. Notice that we are spelling T R I C K?!? So perfect since later on that evening, we pulled off the best trick known to SVC ! That will go down in history and I'll just leave it at that!!!
We were laughing so hard last night about this weekly event that HAD to take place because of Jenny and Alice. Every Wednesday was "Dawson's Creek" night. There was absolutely NO TALKING ALLOWED and it was to always be a serious matter....The best part of it all was that SVC did not get the WB station so our house was the only place for it to be seen. They only let certain people "in", people who they knew they could trust to "obey the rules"! I'm not kidding......

In the town over, Lexington, there was a restaurant/bar named "Spanky's". It was one of the hangouts that we have great memories of! I still feel bad for our parents who had all ready purchased meal tickets over at the school but were also paying for our "Spanky dinners"!
After the seasons were over, we were able to take off on the weekends for some memorable road trips. Probably the best and the worst one ever was during our Spring Break. We had the perfect plan and the perfect hook-up so we headed down to Panama City, Florida. It was so fun and so out of control but don't worry...it was not as bad as what they show on TV!

Another weekend we headed up for a DC/Baltimore trip which proved to be classic like always. There were close to 12 of us crammed into 1 hotel room. It was utter hell trying to actually get comfortable enough to be able to sleep. It was also freezing and I swear that I spent all of the 52 hrs living in my coat.

We thought of this trip and of this pic so we could not pass up the chance to get another one that would be more up to date...
Heather, me, Jenny, & Alice Alice, who is originally from AZ, and currently lives in OK was able to plan a trip to Utah last week so we were able to get together for dinner. The last time that I saw Alice was in May of 2000 so it had been a while and I was very excited to see her! Alice is just Alice and she had us laughing so hard last night while she was getting us up to speed. She is now married and has a 9 yr old step-son who they have full custody of which is the best since Alice swore that she was 1- never going to have kids and 2- that she was not going to take on her her husbands name. She's 1/2 and that exactly describes the liberal, strong willed, feisty, feminist that she is and that's why you can't help but love her. She is hilarious and has the best quotes and one-liners ever!

We were reminiscing about some history with a guy that we all ended up hating. It all started because he and Alice had a little thing, he said some stuff that was uncalled for, she ended it and he got all bent out of shape. As we were talking about it...she was in complete denial that she had kissed him and was sure that it had been because she had kissed one of his friends. "And we just witnessed first hand the denial process that goes on when we are trying to forget an event that caused us some type of trauma". It's funny what your mind chooses to block or to not block out! You probably had to be there back then and you had to be there last night to fully understand it but for those of us who were...hilarious!

On a more serious note, she did share something last night that did hit home. We were talking about friendships and about the way you can choose to react when something is done to spitefully hurt you. Unfortunately it allows you to realize how malicious, catty, and immature that people can be. With this being said, you can choose to deal with it the best way you can and then get over it or you can choose to react just as catty, be bitter about it, and hold a grudge for the rest of your life. Sometimes things happen that you will never forget but you can at least move on. She realized that it's almost a guarantee that you yourself have also done something to someone, that makes them feel the same way, whether you meant to or not. You have to be careful and think about what you do before you do it because you never know how it will be misconstrued. You just can't become ignorant in that department. As of lately, that is something that I've come to realize and something that I need to constantly remind myself.

Each of the "girls club" members have gone on different paths. Some are married, some are not, some have children, some are in denial, some have been hurt by another, some this, and some that but we all shared an extremely important part of our lives and that will never change.

Never....

The older you get, the more important those true friendships, those wonderful experiences become. The older you get, the more you are able to really see who your friends were and are. The older you get, the more you are able to see what really should matter to you in this life. The older you get, the more mature you should become.

We promised to not be as bad as we have been by getting better at staying in touch. Because I was the organizer and planner of the group, I promised to plan another "girls club" trip just for old time sake. "How fun and out of control would that be?!?"

"Girls Club" rules!!!