I know there are some bloggers who have a green thumb: growing flowers and vegetables. I don't have an actual garden. But, I do find myself tending one garden: my friends! Here they are!
Daisy:
She is one of my oldest friends. I'll never forget the night when, just before our junior year, Ginny suggested that we should "befriend" Daisy, who was new to our school and would be joining us in the flute section of the marching band. We did and have been great friends ever since!
Magnolia:
Also one of my dearest, oldest friends. Magnolia and I were in the same Kindergarten class and while we lost touch for a while during elementary school, we've been great friends since our freshman year of high school. A couple of years ago, Magnolia married a great guy named Larch who has fit in with our group of friends better than we ever would have imagined!
Ginny:
Ginny and I have known each other since Kindergarten, but the road was rocky! In elementary school, we hated each other. In high school, we became good friends, and I was super honored when she asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding right after my college graduation (I said yes!). Ginny married Harry, another classmate of ours from high school and they have three great kids: Miss I, Mr. O, and Baby M. They are some of the sweetest and funniest kids I have ever met and I'm so lucky to count this entire family among my garden of friends. (None of the people in this family have the names of flowers in real life or on this blog. But, they are a family that loves Harry Potter, so I selected as their symbol the platform in Kings' Cross Station. I think it's fitting!)
Clover and Birch
I've known Birch since the beginning of high school as well, though he and I didn't keep in close contact during college. A few years ago, Birch married a lovely girl named Clover. And then last year, Birch and Clover moved back to Minnesota from their previous home in New York. Clover and I discovered at that time that we have a shared love of knitting! Clover and Birch are the proud parents of little Mr. A, who was born in early 2013 and one of the first recipients of a baby hat I knit successfully!
Willow, Bluebell and Marigold:
During my first year at St. Olaf, the four of us all lived in the same corridor. By the end of that year, Marigold and I had decided to become roommates because we both loved pushing the snooze button (something our first year roommates hated).
Marigold and I lived together during our second and fourth years, and she was an RA while I was studying abroad. Willow and Bluebell were randomly paired by the Residence Life staff before the start of first year and they lived together from then until they graduated.
We were all lucky that they had rooms near the ones I shared with Marigold. We got to know each other so well that now, even though I never actually shared a room with either Willow or Bluebell, I refer to them as my college roommates as well!
Sunflower:
We met on our first day at St. Olaf, having been assigned to dorm rooms right next to one another. The great coincidence was that Sunflower also wanted to major in French! We have several French classes together during the Olaf years and even studied abroad in France together.
Bee:
Bee and I have also known each other since our very earliest days at St. Olaf. We were French majors together, so we saw a lot of one another. We also, oddly enough, chose to attend the same graduate program. And we actually chose to attend it at the same school! Then, even further complicating the coincidences, we both ran for and were elected to the leadership of a student organization at that grad school. Bee was president, I was VP. Although working together at that student org put our relationship to the test, we've had a lot more fun together since graduation!
Violet:
We met in 2003, the first year we worked together at summer camp. We worked together at camp for the next several summers and eventually became good friends. I was so excited when Violet moved to Minnesota in 2009, after having grown up in Wisconsin. We're lucky to have her!
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