Heather & Jeff's Wedding

Let me take you back a bit.

It's 2001 (don't go calculating my age) and my first day at the University of Massachusetts.  I'm going to say this again and try to point out an important word here.  My first day at the University of Massachusetts.  Got it? Okay, moving on.  Because it's a big public school, housing overbooked the rooms.  Shocker, I know.  Anyways, I was nervous just like every other Freshman about to meet their roommates for the first time.  I walked in to my lounge space posing as a room and eagerly awaited my 3 roomies.  Instead, I met Elissa, a friend of one of my roommates from her hometown who also happened to be living a couple of floors above us.  Oh, and she was from Jersey.  As were my 3 roommates.  At a school in Massachusetts.  Is anyone seeing anything wrong here?   Moving on.  A few minutes later I saw a tall, skinny, long-haired blond chick walk in to the room with bins of clothes in her hands and her dad in tow, mumbling something under his breath about security this or another.  That chick was Heather.

Heather with her dad on her wedding day

Our other 2 roommates joined us shortly.  We all spent a few minutes saying our brief hello's and ushering our parents out of our bedroom so we could finally relax on our own.  When they finally left, the 5 of us (did I mention that Elissa pretty much lived in our room already?) plopped down and chatted, trying to get to know one another.  We also talked about sleeping and closet arrangements.  Heather and I took one side of the room, while our other 2 roomies grabbed the bunk beds across the room.  I eagerly claimed the top bunk while Heather was happy to take the bottom.  We placed our computers on the table by our beds, each taking a side of the table.  We didn't know it back then, but this little setup set off the beginning of an amazing bond and friendship. 

The rest of the semester Heather and I got to know each other even better and become closer than ever.  We spent our days hanging out on our computers, often sending IM's to each other, making fun of something or another, dilly-dallying to classes, pretending that we would actually stick to a workout routine, watching TV, ordering pizzas, and procrastinating studying for tests by dressing up and running around hallways.

Heather was by my side when I foolishly pierced my eye brown (O-M-G-K-A-T!) and then consequently took it out, when I decided that I had to meet every single person in our dormitory by knocking on their doors and introducing myself (the next 4 years people said hi to me when I had no clue who they were, woops),  when we foolishly decided to "borrow" some pumpkins and street signs, when I wanted to explore the fraternity houses (I swear that fridge looked just like our bunk beds), and even when I thought that it was a good idea to stay up all night to "study". 

When the first semester ended, Heather and I moved to a regular double-room together.  The following year we moved to another dorm, but remained roommates.  She became my best friend, my companion.  I could never imagine my life without her.  Sadly, we ended up splitting up the last 2 years of school because I became a Resident Assistant while Heather took on a single in the same building.  We remained close friends and this past weekend Heather got married.  *Sigh*  Why do we all have to grow up?

On that note, here are some things from the past so you can make fun of me.

Me with my 3 Jersey roomies on move-in day

Heather, Elissa and I going to...borrow pumpkins

4 original roomies + Meg in our "lounge"

Hanging out with Heather after graduation in Jersey

Heather, Tamar, Kristi and I on Halloween Sophomore year

Hanging out in Heather's hometown (and her daddy's bike)

Oh memories.