Camp Brockway | Manlius, NY
College was a pretty special time for me. It’s when I got my first official job with a schedule and a paycheck. I joined a sorority (which I NEVER thought I would do!) It was when I really started to feel independent and began learning who I wanted to become. It was where I met some of my lifelong friends, friends I am still very close with to this day, 7 years after college graduation. Friends like Aryn.
I don’t remember exactly how we became friends, who started talking to who first, what specific classes we were in, but what brought us together was our shared major. We were both Human Development & Family Relations majors and because of that, our schedules ended up being extremely similar. Even though I can’t remember specifics, what I do remember is when we did start talking more and more regularly, I started to realize how similar we were in so many different aspects of our lives. We hated the same classes, we both share a deep love for animals, we both HATE change, we LOVE food (specifically hot dogs!) And we both have very similar moral compasses. We became best friends almost instantly and before our last semester of college, we started looking for apartments but when we couldn’t find any nice and affordable ones, Aryn ended up moving into my mom and step-dads house with us and it was SO. MUCH. FUN. Think living with your best friend for months kind of fun. We had the best time watching movies, making “birthday waffles” on the mornings of each of our birthdays to celebrate, talking about how far we’ve come and how we couldn’t believe we were about to graduate from college. Aryn became a second daughter to my mom and a second step-daughter to my step-dad. Let’s just say there were A LOT of tears when her longtime boyfriend, Cody came to pick her up to head home for the final time.
Even though I don’t know Cody as well as I know Aryn, I knew from the moment I met him that they were a perfect match. Cody loves Aryn more than anything and would do pretty much anything to make her happy. For example, Aryn and Cody had very different opinions when it came to the concept of weddings. Cody never really agreed with the whole idea of one, but Aryn grew up dreaming of her wedding day. It was something that always meant a great deal to her, and Cody knew that. Even though he didn’t view weddings the same way she did, he got down on one knee when they were on vacation in Costa Rica and asked Aryn to be his wife, wedding and all. That’s how you know it’s real. Aryn and Cody, I feel so lucky that I have been able to see you create a life of your own together, from buying a house, to giving birth to a perfect baby girl, to then having the perfect wedding. You two are the real deal and I’m excited to see what your future holds for you. Thank you for allowing me to walk next to you in all of the most important seasons of your lives, most recently your wedding day. I love you both! Xoxo
