There are no words that can express my joy and excitement that Chris, Emily, and Ella Watkins are back in town!!! The Watkins are our very best friends who have been living overseas for the past year and a half. Since they have been gone, we have been counting down the days until they got to come back home again. And that time is here! (Even though it's only for a little while.) Warning, this will be a long post because these people are just that important.
A little background information...Brandon met Chris while at NC State. They were in the same Bible study and became good friends pretty quickly. Chris was still dating his high school sweetheart, Emily, and by the time I came into the picture they were engaged. Once Brandon and I started seriously dating, the boys decided that Emily and I should be friends. They knew that if they were ever going to be able to hang out together, then the girls needed to be friends so that the 4 of us could hang out. Honestly, it took some convincing from the boys to get Emily and I to hang out. I think girls often are hesitant to be set up on a blind friend date for the fear of it being super awkward. Once Emily and I started hanging out though, our friendship grew and the rest is now history.
Fast forward a little bit. Chris and Emily are married, and Brandon and I are married. We loved living life alongside of these people. Emily and I were both nurses, both graduating from Carolina's nursing school, then me working at UNC and Emily working at Duke. Brandon and Chris were life twins as well, both graduating from NC State and starting at Southeastern, working at Carmax together for a while, and working at the church together. It was actually pretty funny. Chris and Emily moved from their apartment in Raleigh to a place in Durham literally a mile from us. We had a blast living so close to each other. We hung out at the pool together all the time. We had dinner together. We had a running card game of Rook going on for years, literally. Guys vs. girls. We won't talk about who won most of the time... One time, Brandon and I rode our bikes down the Tobacco Trail to the Chris and Emily's apartment and started throwing 'rocks' at their 3rd story porch to get them to come outside. [Sidebar: our 'rocks' that we were throwing turned out to be discarded pieces of charcoal from the grills...totally made a huge mess on their porch and Chris was so annoyed when he came out because he was not feeling well and now he had busted charcoal all over his porch. It was hilarious.] Anyway, we knew this whole time that Chris and Emily would be moving overseas for a while. It was easiest to just not think about it. How could we say goodbye to our best friends? We were so lucky to be able to have one last big hoorah together in Mexico before they moved. The 4 of us spent a week at an all-inclusive resort that was seriously one of the best weeks of my life. We had SO much fun, I can't even believe it! I have some great pictures in an old album on Facebook from our trip, you should check them out. But here are a few from that trip of the 4 of us together:
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| This is the most awkward picture ever, love it. |
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So fast forward again...Chris and Emily left in January 2011. We were there with their parents on the day that they left, which was so awful! Then to make it worse, they drove our car to the airport to avoid those terrible airport goodbyes. We went a few hours later to pick up our car, and Emily left a note in it. Seriously? Pour some more salt in that wound! Brandon and I both cried like babies. (Sorry to rat you out, B.) Since then, we have talked for countless hours on the phone (thanks, Vonage!) and have kept up with every life detail. Emily and I talked about everything from them adjusting to a new culture, our crazy husbands, work, new hobbies, struggles, fears, things that were prefaced by "I'm so thankful you won't judge me for this..." and the list goes on and on. Chris and Emily were the first people (besides our parents) that we told when we found out we were pregnant. We told them on Skype, and Emily and I both cried happy tears and sad tears that we weren't together. Then about 5 weeks later, Emily called me and told me she was pregnant too! And I'm pretty sure we cried again. Over the next 9 months we were pregnant together on 2 different continents, talking a few times a week, giving advice, complaining, sharing pictures, etc. All the while wishing we still only lived a mile apart...Oh what we would have given to only be a mile apart! My goodness. In the days leading up to my due date, the Watkins were on pins and needles waiting for 'the phone call.' Every time I called, Emily would frantically answer the phone, just sure that I was in labor. You should have heard their panic when the phone went out during a freak snow storm at their house a week before my due date. Hilarious. When the time finally came, Brandon called Chris from the triage room before I got checked in to labor and delivery. Knowing that our sweet friends were praying for us and our baby on the other side of the world was amazing. When Lucas finally made his appearance, we called them on Skype when he was just about an hour old so that they could 'meet' him. Chris and Emily were both giddy with excitement, and Emily and I cried, again. 5 weeks later, same song second verse! I get a phone call from Emily at about 5:00 p.m. my time. I immediately knew something was up, because that meant it was about midnight their time. I answered the phone by saying "what's going on?!" and Emily, in a very calm voice, said "I think my water just broke." After a few minutes and with actually the advice and knowledge from my mom on speaker phone (we were in Asheville at the time), we were sure her water had broken. The next morning, Miss Ella Grace made her appearance into this world (see
this post) and Brandon and I were just as giddy as they were when Lucas was born. Hearing Emily's labor story was so amazing, trying to picture my rockstar friend speaking in a new foreign language while in labor (!!!) so that she could have the labor and delivery experience that she wanted on the other side of the world... Seriously, so awesome. The next few weeks were spent talking on the phone often trying to figure out babies, sleep deprivation, and breast feeding, and counting down the days that we would get to see the 3 of them.
Now here we are. The Watkins were able to come home for about a month with their sweet baby girl. They survived traveling across the globe with an infant and have since been gracefully juggling families and friends. We were so lucky to be able to steal them for a few days. They got to our house on Friday and stayed with us here in Durham on Friday and Saturday nights, then on Sunday after church we headed to the lake with them and stayed Sunday night and Monday night. Don't worry, I have pictures of our shenanigans. I'm going to put them in another post though because this one is already quite long. Our time in Durham was spent checking things off of a list Emily had made, most of which included good food. Then our time at the lake was spent relaxing and playing on the water. It was just like old times. I think we were all a little worried about how it would be, having the 4 of us back together again and throwing 2 babies into the mix. After all, it had been a year and a half since we had seen them...they pulled up to our house and it seemed like Emily jumped out of the car before it was even put in park. Brandon and I ran outside with Lucas in tow as soon as we saw them pull up. It was a great moment. I almost tackled Emily, then Chris got Ella out of the car and we exchanged babies, trying to wrap our minds around the fact that we were moms and dads now.
Suddenly, a year and a half seemed like a day, like they had never left. They are those kind of friends. The once in a lifetime friends that get you. I think I can speak for both me and Emily, and Brandon and Chris, and say that we completely recognize the blessing of this friendship. There is so much more that I want to say about it, but I don't know how. But Watkins, you know. You know. And that's all that matters.
We said "see you later" on Tuesday morning as they left the lake. (I don't like calling it "goodbye.") We kissed each others' babies and quickly hugged each others' necks, trying to make their departure as quick and painless as possible. But for me, even though it really sucked to see them leave again, I know that we won't skip a beat. They are headed back overseas on July 4, but will be home again next summer for a longer period of time, and I can't wait. I know it will be just the same as before they left, because that's just how we are together. When they drove away this time, Brandon put his arm around me and Lucas and we cried again. I think partly because we were sad of course that our best friends were leaving again, but also partly because we are so thankful to have them in our lives.
Ok now I'm teary eyed. Whew! Want pictures of our time together? Part 2 is coming up!
