Goin' To The Chapel...

Two of my best friends got engaged over the weekend. Erin and Noah, who were friends from the beginning of high school, started dating a few years ago and fell in love, and he proposed over the weekend, a few days after her birthday.

Erin and I met in first grade, though she claims we met in kindergarden, but I don't remember this. We spent our elementary school days playing on town soccer teams together (my mom was our coach the year we won the championship) and playing games in the woods behind her house and mine. I can recall a few silly home videos that we made, as well as some interesting kitchen creations, in which her mom was never pleased to clean up after us. We were part of what we deemed the "neighborhood posse," which consisted of Erin, myself, Lana, and Leandra; all our houses were within walking/biking distance of each other. I miss those days.

I met Noah on the first day of my freshman year of high school. We were in Mr. Laughlin's science class; Noah was sitting behind me. We had some wacky adventures throughout high school, my favorite being our duel project on Indonesia, in which we wrote and sang a song in Indonesian, "Jancam Macam Macam," loosely translated: "I Like You Just the Way You Are." Noah and I sent each other daily email updates after school and chatted endlessly on AOL Instant Messanger. I'm not sure I ever told him, but I saved every single email and almost every IM conversation, and I would often go back and read some of them when I was feeling down. Sometimes, he would send me song lyrics from the Muppets... short, simple, sweet; just what I needed sometimes. I still have that folder, and even to this day, I'll go back and glance through a few emails and smile.

Noah had called me earlier this summer to announce that he had bought the ring, and he told me how he was going to ask Erin, the love of his life, his best friend, to marry him. I'm pleased to report that I was able to keep my mouth shut, as I was among the select group of people he had told in advance (and also one of the farthest away from Erin).

Erin and Noah came to visit me and vacation in Disney for a week last spring (March, 2007), and that had actually been the first time I hung out with them as a "couple." It was remarkable to observe my two good friends, both of whom I knew very well individually, blend into a relationship. It was a natural progression for them, too, since they spent a lot of time together in a friendship state before merging into romance. I felt like I was gaining a new friend--the Erin and Noah couple-- as opposed to losing two friends, which is often the case when you're friends wih two people who start dating.

Due to our different geographic locations, I haven't had all that much time to spend with them in their coupledom. But, the moments I have had with them (their Disney vacation, and my recent excursion to MA for Lizzy's wedding) have shown me that these two people, my best friends, are fantastic together. It was truly the best birthday present-- the text message from Noah that read, "She said YES!"