My Life As a Farm Girl: Memorial Day/Rebecca

Every time you start a new journey in life, I feel like God sends you people to help you along your way and to make it a little easier. Let's think back to where I was five years ago (back in 2013)...

I was a bundle of nerves and on the verge of moving to Stillwater to finish up college at OSU. I was quite a wreck, spiritually, emotionally, and almost every other way. I was on the heels of a breakup and trying to figure out that part of my life. I was ready to move forward, but I was scared of the unknown. I was scared to move to a new town surrounded by people my age. (I've always preferred the company of older people or old souls, likely a byproduct of being the youngest in my family by a margin of 10 years.) I tried putting it all in God's hands, but I still wanted to keep a little bit of control over the situation...don't we all do that?

Why am I blabbering on about 5 years ago anyway? I guess I should get to my point.

Five years ago, I was on the verge of beginning one of the best chapters of my life, and I didn't even realize it. Of course, we all know how the story ends, I went to OSU, fell into the warm embrace of the St. John's community, became a much better version of myself, made a ton of friends, eventually fell in love with Thomas, and finished my degree along the way.

I'd like to take some time today to tell you a story about one of my most important friendships I gained during those years--my friendship with Rebecca. I know you've heard me mention her throughout the years, but I wanted to take a bit to expand on our friendship.

I know that I met Rebecca the first time I attended a Wednesday night student Mass at St. John's. She was an exuberant, joyful, friendly person who immediately drew me in. Initially we bonded over the fact that she spent the first eight-ish years of her life living in Waukomis. Furthermore, she was related to some kids who went to Pioneer. If that couldn't have been a gift straight from God, I don't know what else could have been. As much as I was happy to find a new circle of people apart from where I grew up, it was so comforting to find out that she knew all the places I did and had an easy time relating to me. Also, she was Catholic, and she seemed to be much nicer and more down-to-earth than her cousins were! After some time chatting, we became instant friends.

We had lots of similarities. For example, she also had 2 sisters, her dad worked a blue collar job, our family structures/morals were fairly similar, and we had many common interests. She was studying architecture at the time, having switched out of mechanical engineering a year before, but was probably going to change her major to something in human sciences the following semester. She was quirky in her own way, but she was loads of fun. She also happened to live in an apartment at St. John's, which fascinated me to no end.

Of course, we didn't become close friends for a good little while, as I was scared that she would think that I was being too clingy. Also, she was good friends with almost everyone I hung out with, so I didn't want to overstep any boundaries or shake things up too much. She was very easy to talk to. And by that, I mean that she let me be my normal chatterbox self, and she was happy to interject as she felt appropriate. As time went on, we started hanging out more and more, and she helped me to get to know everyone and step outside of my comfort zone. Because of Rebecca, I decided to join the intramural teams (even though I was definitely the least skilled person on almost every team!) She encouraged me to become a lector, something she often did at student masses. Looking back, a lot of the things she encouraged me to do were things she did that not a lot of other people wanted to do. I'm sure there's some deeper meaning in that, but maybe not. I went along with most of her schemes because I figured that I didn't have a lot to lose and that I didn't have to keep doing it if I didn't like it. (Turns out that I didn't like flag football, soccer, or ultimate frisbee, because I definitely only did that for one season! I lectored for the remainder of my time at St. John's...I miss it a lot.)

Rebecca is one of the most adventurous people I know. She has traveled abroad without her family multiple times, and she studied in France for a semester. She loves visiting new places and immersing herself in the culture. But she also loves peanut butter and Tex-Mex and was depressed to find out that there is a lack of both in Europe. She's always up for weekend trips that involve outdoorsy things like hiking, rafting, or rock climbing. She also loves baking (something I also love!). One of my dearest memories was the time we went to OKC to visit Able's spice shop so that she could buy some rose water to make cupcakes that she found in a French cookbook. I could probably write a book with all of the fun times I've had with Rebecca!

One of the bigger adventures she and I went on was the time we visited convents in Wichita. It was an interesting weekend. I was visiting mostly to fulfill a promise I had made to Fr. Stuart (a story for a different time). Rebecca was visiting because she was legitimately interested in religious life as a nun. Through the weekend, I left feeling utterly confused, a little depressed by the prospect of becoming a nun, and generally unattached to that idea...Rebecca, not so much. I was baffled by that, honestly, because I'd never known anyone (let alone one of my peers) who was remotely interested in that particular vocation besides my distant cousin (who is an actual nun). Besides hanging out with Rebecca and knowing that I was definitely supposed to get married, the only other highlight of that bizarre weekend was that we visited Tonisha while in Wichita.

I mention that particular instance because it was fairly instrumental in our lives. I felt a little bad because I realized quickly that I couldn't ever be happy as a nun, whereas Rebecca legitimately enjoyed herself. We all know how that story ended for me, obviously. Rebecca, on the other hand, never really let go of the idea of pursuing religious life. There was a period of time in which she dated a guy (one of our St. John's friends), just to realize that dating wasn't for her. (That guy is now happily dating a different girl from St. John's, another dear friend of mine. They're absolutely perfect for each other, and I couldn't be happier for them!)

As you could guess, after some time of praying, discerning, and researching, Rebecca has decided to take the big step of joining a convent at some point within the next year. Some of the details are still being ironed out, so I can't be too specific at the moment. She is excited to start this next chapter, and I couldn't be happier for her! Since she will be in the convent and won't have a ton of spare time in the future, she decided to come visit me over Memorial Day weekend.

It was such a fantastic weekend, possibly more so because I knew that we wouldn't get to spend a lot of carefree time together like that for quite a good deal of time. I did my best to savor every moment and give Rebecca a good Dallas experience. We covered a lot of ground in her short weekend here.

I'll give you highlights: