Celebrating Love and Life

I keep telling myself that I'm going to blog after the next momentous occasion, but it seems that those occasions are less momentous in retrospect than daunting in apprehension. But better late than never, I guess.

Step 1 is now behind me and my general attitude has been to forget that it ever happened at all. My score doesn't come out until later this week, so in my typical avoidant fashion, I'm going to focus instead on the amazing, yet bittersweet weekend I've had.

This weekend, my good friend from college made a life-long commitment to the love of his life. It's crazy to think that, just a few short years ago, we were naïve college kids digging cars out of the snow with garbage cans to make midnight Taco Bell runs; laying out butcher paper so we could spread out our glorious feast of 100 chicken nuggets; belting out showtunes in the car -- wait, we still do all of these things...I guess the only descriptor that no longer applies is the "college kids" part. It felt so great to reunite with DtFnD (the nD is very important to emphasize, we've discovered) and celebrate one of our own graduating to the next stage of life, from boyfriend/fiancé to husband.

As it is with good friends, it felt like no time passed as all. One hug is apparently all it takes to bridge two/three years of separation. And in typical DtFnD, we caught up over food and alcohol...and dancing. Hours and hours of dancing. I start my rotations tomorrow and I think I've slept less than 10 hours in the past three days combined. NO RAGRETS.

The wedding itself was gorgeous. As we rose to greet the bride, I was able to sneak a look down to aisle to catch the groom's expression upon laying eyes on his radiant wife-to-be. It was impossible to miss the naked adoration on his face. Witnessing this wordless exchange of love, I felt a sudden and sharp pang of insight as to why people get married in the first place -- why people choose to bind their heart to another when one was serving them just fine to begin with. I am so, so proud of this couple and their commitment to each other before God. (I don't think I've been attended a more God-centric wedding, and I have once attended one that ended with the bride and groom leading worship, but alas that's a story for another day.)

It was a great weekend catching up with old friends. We may be scattered across the states, but we haven't changed much. "We still fit together like puzzle pieces," I remember thinking to myself as I cuddled with John, shrouded in the gentle haze of a good buzz. "Ratchet, ratchet puzzle pieces," I amended as Rudy crawled over to offer us another sip of straight rum from his cup....or he may have crammed a garlic knot slathered in marinara into my mouth. Or was that later? Memories are a funny thing. Nonetheless, you know it's a great night when it ends with hash browns and waffles at Waffle House at 1AM. God bless 24-hour diners.

While I spent the weekend celebrating the birth of a new relationship, the weekend was also marked by the death of my grandfather. On the morning of my flight out to Atlanta, I received a FB message (what's with me always receiving death notices via social media? Not cool.)  from my aunt letting me know that my paternal grandfather had passed away peacefully the night before. This comes less than 4 months after the passing of my paternal grandmother. Though our family's relationship with my grandfather was sometimes contentious, it does kind of feel like the end of an era. My father is an orphan now. I can't even begin to imagine what he must feel, having lost his only remaining parent before he had the chance to finish processing the passing of the first.

I don't have much to say about my grandfather. He was not a perfect man, but I know he loved his children, even if he didn't always know how to express it. I hope he is now in Heaven with my grandmother, all earthly conflicts laid to rest.

In other news, I start my first day of rotations tomorrow. I'm not feeling particularly nervous or excited...but then again, a weekend of drinking and no sleep does tend to mute most emotions. I look forward to blogging again after my first day of being a real doctor (kinda)!