pom pom

Lucas's sweet Aunt Pom Pom came to visit!!

Let me tell you a little about Pom. She is my sister.  Don't we look alike?

My mom was kind enough to send me some pictures of me and Pom from back in the day to give you a better glimpse into our friendship.  But I must say a disclaimer:  most of these pictures were from 2001 and 2002, and some of my wardrobe choices were nothing short of questionable.  Acid washed jeans?  Ok!  Big belts?  You bet.  Anyway, I digress. 

Pom and I met in the fall of 2001...  she was the quiet foreign exchange student from Thailand that was going to be living with our neighbors and starting at my high school.  Mom and I walked up the street to meet her, and when we did, we were met with this little pint sized 5-foot nothing girl who barely uttered a peep to us fast talking loud mouthed southerners.  But over a short period of time, Pom and I quickly became good friends, and soon referred to each other as sisters.  Kindred spirits.  Soul sisters.

Pom's birthday is 2 days after mine.  On my 16th birthday (to throw her off), we took her iceskating and then pulled off the best surprise birthday party for her in the entire world with a cake that said 'happy birthday' in Thai and everything and a giant sign made out of a bed sheet that said 'happy birthday pom!' (in English).

Pom was the first brave person to ride solo with me once I got my driver's license.  We thought we were hot stuff riding around Asheville and eating dinner out like grown ups and going to music stores.  We played in the snow together, talked about boys together, went to the lake together, went to prom together, laughed together, cried together.  Her friends from the exchange program became my friends, and my friends became her friends.  We were sisters. 

Prom 2002- this picture is in my scrap book

When it came time for her to leave after that year, it was hard.  It was really hard.  We were 16 and 17 years old, and what did that look like?  Living on opposite sides of the world?  She was moving back to a place that she felt she didn't belong to anymore.  But we made it work.  She came back for an internship in Pennsylvania after that, then once when her mom (her host mom) was fighting cancer. In the meantime, she finished college in Thailand and worked in the film industry. Then she came back for my wedding, because I couldn't imagine marrying Brandon without her by my side. We sent her bridesmaid dress to her in Thailand and she had to have it completely taken apart and put back together because she's so stinking tiny.

She went back to Thailand after the wedding and then came back to the states a few years later to live the Hollywood lifestyle in Los Angeles.  She did a graduate program in film at UCLA and worked for cool places like Focus Features.  Brandon and I went out west to visit her and she was the most fantastic tour guide!  She and Brandon were in heaven in the land of the LA Lakers.  They share a love for that team that to this day I still don't understand.

When Brandon and I found out we were pregnant with our little guy, Pom soon became Aunt Pom (or Auntie Pom Pom as we call her) and she was so so excited! She came to see Lucas back in August and then again this week because she is moving back to Thailand (not by choice, thank you US government).

We had such a fun visit.  We did a whole lot of nothing, talked and talked, and took Lucas to the park.  Per usual, Pom took like 8 million pictures of Lucas while she was here, so I can't wait to get my hands on those.  I will be sharing them once I get the file!

We were so sad to see her go.  Even Lucas tried to get her to stay.  He was thinking, 'maybe if I hold on to her bag, she won't go!'  I know little buddy, we don't want her to leave either.  But it's not goodbye, it's just "see you later."

Pom is one of those once-in-a-lifetime friends.  11 years ago we spent nights crying together about boys and drama, now we cry together about losing loved ones and the fact that growing up sometimes is just plain hard.  11 years ago we laughed a lot.  You should hear us now...we still laugh a lot! 11 years ago we were able to not say a word and yet speak a thousand words at the same time.  Today, we do the same.  Sometimes we go years without seeing each other and make do with emails and Skype dates, but we always pick up right where we left off.  That's what sisters do, right?