Jolene and Hayden

I started to pray for a good university roommate when I was in 9th grade. I didn't want to be in high school so I thought about university instead. The day I arrived at Trinity I was anxious and excited to meet the girl I would share a room with for the next year. But Jolene Gerritzen, the name on the door, wasn't there. My RA told me she was a second year and would arrive a week later. That week was nerve wracking as I waited for the day of my roommate's arrival to come. The day before she was supposed to arrive I returned to my dorm room to find the door open and someone unpacking.

"Uhh...Hi. Are you Jolene?"
"Yea, I am"
"I'm Erin. I'm your roommate"

That's how we meet. We spent the next week with small talk and general get-to-know-you stuff. Blah blah blah. Then we connected how most women connect. Over boys. It turned out that we were both in similar, hard to define relationships. We both had a special boy in our life but weren't dating. It just wasn't time yet. No one understood. Until we met each other. That was all we needed. Someone who understood. We've been super close since.

But the last time we saw each other was over three years ago at her wedding. Living in different countries and both having a baby made it difficult to visit. Not any more! Not only do we live in the same country but in the same province! Jo and her adorable son Hayden came to visit us last weekend and even though I never forgot why I love her so much, it brought it all back. Since we both have little ones to look after (and as I saw, three-year-olds, even very well behaved ones, take a lot of looking after) it wasn't as easy to connect or have "quality time", we still rekindled our friendship in ways that can't be accomplished over Skype. I got to watch her be a mother, we drank tea, we swapped stories, we talked about the same boys we connected over in the first place. Our friendship just keeps on going, keeps on growing. Though we won't ever share the same room again, I think we'll be just as close as if we did.

Hayden and Audrey eating Cheerios. He later fed them to her. Super sweet.

Jo, this one's for you:
"Is someone dying in there?!?!"
"Quote it!!!"