My Friend Kristi

On Tuesday I left the office to do some training in our Denver office. I e-mailed some friends to let them know I would be heading their way to see if anyone was interested in having dinner one night while I was there.

I can’t tell you how excited I was when Kristi sent me a message and said YES! We would love to see you. For those of you that don’t know my friend Kristi, I have known her practically my whole life. We were talking about it Tuesday night and I think we figured out that I was about 2 when we first met. As we were growing up, Kristi and the Guier girls did everything together. We even sometimes got in trouble together. Like the time she and Merrick put me in one of Olech’s diapers (I was probably 4ish at the time) and made me drink a lot of water so that we could see the stars on the diaper disappear when I peed. That actually may possibly be my first memory of getting in trouble. Kristi was immediately sent home and Merrick and I had to go to our rooms for what seemed like an eternity.
Some happy things I remember, the delicious crawfish boils and Sandy’s famous ettoufee (I still have not had anything like hers). I remember dancing in Kristi’s living room to the song Fame, I remember playing on her monkey bars, I remember getting to go on rides on Tom’s motorcycle, I remember the hermit crabs, I remember Olech walking into their house and saying ”mmm I smell beef jerky” even though it was prepackaged. I remember Tom laughing when Olech was standing by the “no parking except Sunday sign” in front of our house singing “I wanna be an aardvark” Jumping on the trampoline yelling “pitchfork! pitchfork!” I believe the trampoline is also where the nickname K.V. came from. I will not divulge what that stands for or who came up with the nick name. That will have to remain a mystery to some of you. 
Obviously as we got older and the Guier’s moved away from 13th street and eventually from Ponca City our lives took different paths. We still saw each other but soon after us moving off of 13th St. Kristi graduated from High School and then off to college. Kristi, Merrick and I were in the same sorority, Pi Beta Phi at OSU. Merrick got to spend a few years with her there but by the time I got there, she was only there for one more year. Again, we all went our separate ways and eventually all got married getting to see each other every once in a while throughout the years.
Through blogs and now Facebook we have been able to keep track of each other’s lives. This week I had the great pleasure of meeting two of the cutest, sweetest kids. As I looked at them and talked to them I could see my own two kids and I KNOW that in time when one day, Avery and Jack get to meet Calyn and Max they will get along great!
So, as sung and caught on cassette tape, by a very young Merrick “from our house, so far away, I miss Kristi!” It was so great to see you, KV!

Me and Kristi all grown up

 Avery, Thane, Kristi, Jack and Me in Denver