Lauren

Today I had lunch with Lauren. Lauren is one of my greatest friends. She and I met our first year of college cleaning bathrooms together at 5am in the Tanner Building. The combination of being sleep deprived and working with chemicals in what were often messy situations (and I mean that literally) made us bond in a very special way.

My freshman year of college is like the black hole in my life, probably similar to what every normal person's middle school life was like (I'm not included in that group. My middle school experience was great!) I don't remember too much from that year besides feeling down a lot of the time. Lauren was the one bright spot in my day. I doubt the bathrooms in the Tanner Building will ever hear as much laughter as they did the few months we worked to clean them.

We joked about people wearing spandex and we talked about chick flicks. One day we created a verbal outline for an exercise video that we called "The Potty Training Program," which included many of the tasks we had to perform to clean the bathrooms. I loved Lauren for her spunk, her love for life, her ability to really listen and be open, and for being there when no one else was. I loved her so much that I pulled her along into my second and third way away from home and made her my roommate.

Lauren and I don't see each other much any more, but I will always be grateful to her for how she enriched my college experience and pulled me out of some pretty dark holes. And as with all good friends, if she ever needs an ear to hear or someone to swoon with during a Jane Austen film or a buddy to laugh with, I'm in. That's what friends are for.