My Girls

I'd like to introduce you to my bridesmaids...

(Lisa, Lizz, me, Emily, and Jay)

These are my best friends, the people who I turn to when I am sad, the ones I celebrate with when I'm happy, and the most loyal, wonderful, charming, kind, and beautiful women I know.

Lisa and I met when we were about seven years old. We grew up 3 doors away from each other, having sleepovers, discovering boys together, playing softball, and becoming adults together. Lisa was my best girlfriend - really my first girlfriend because all of my other friends were boys for some reason. Our co-op was very tight-knit... all the kids played together, and all the parents looked out for every single child. We were like a large family. Her parents were like my parents, and my parents were like hers. It's just the way it was. Eventually, Lisa's family moved out of the co-op, she got married and had a baby, and we just drifted apart. It wasn't because of any issues or hard feelings, we just lost touch. But through the power of Facebook, we reconnected, had dinner, and fell back into each other's lives like not a day had passed. She's one of the best things in my life. When I asked her to be a bridesmaid, she got teary eyed. And when she asked me to help her with her wedding, I cried. It's just who we are, and I love her!

Lizz is Lisa's younger sister. She is about 5 years younger than me, but she was always around. She was like my little sister when we were kids. It was almost a hobby for Lisa and I to tease her and convince her to embarass herself. But she was our little sister so we had to do it! When Lisa and I reconnected a few years ago, Lizz was part of the package, and she wasn't so little anymore. She'd grown up into a beautiful woman with a large heart, and no more Sally Jesse Raphael glasses! :) I love Lizz for many reasons, but especially because she's the little sister that I'd always wanted and actually got to choose!

Emily and I worked together. When she first started, I never thought that I'd be friends with her because she was 20 years old, fresh out of college, and engaged to her high school boyfriend. We didn't have a lot in common, or so I thought. After a trip to Kelowna together for work, I let her in to my little closed-off world and suddenly I felt myself liking her. She's now a married woman and one of my best friends! She is one of those girls that tells it like it is and doesn't really care if people like her. She is always just who she is, and I love her for her attitude and for her humor and because she is always real.

Jay and I met at Douglas college in the fall of 1997. She was blonde, beautiful, smart, and absolutely the kind of girl I dispised in high school. But she was also funny and generous and warm, and I desperately wanted to be her friend. By the end of our college life, we were not only friends, but planning a trip to Mexico! Since then, we've really grown up together. We experienced everything together - EVERYTHING - that a young woman experiences, and we always supported each other. Through the best times in our lives, the lowest points, the saddest moments, our highest highs... we did it all together. And when she got married in September, I stood next to her - never more proud to be her best friend. I don't know how I would have survived my twenties without that girl beside me!

These are my girls... the best ladies I know. They each provide me with different kinds of love, support, and understanding. They have each held my hand. They have each watched me cry. They have each laughed with me. They have each received the joyous call about our engagement. They have each received the question... will you be my bridesmaid? They have each said yes. I love them all because they are unique, and I can't wait to go through this journey with them!