A Toast to You (and an avocado toast for me)

Friends for a Perfect Time and Season

Relationships are really important to me. I believe our connections with those around us to be one of the great reasons for our existence. We are here to be here for each other--to celebrate, to mourn, to grow, to sit, to think, to explore with each other. I feel very blessed in my friendships from the past twenty seven years. This is not an inclusive list of everyone who has influenced me for good (which would be a short novel), but thank you for sharing a space with me now. And so, here is a toast to my friends, past and present. 

To Bailey, one of my first friends, who taught me that stories should always have a transformative element (usually in the form of a servant girl turning into a princess).

To Eshani and Kaylah, who were my best friends at a new elementary school and sure knew how to laugh. 

To Melody and Susanna, my neighbors who taught me the joys of riding razor scooters, writing movie scripts, playing Pokemon, and “borrowing” flowers from peoples’ yards.

To Liz, who helped me get through middle school despite everyone being at their highest point of insecurity and awkwardness. We wrote a weekly newspaper about our friendship, which is pure gold in terms of creativity (and honestly most of my Microsoft Word skills were developed during this time). 

To Marcia, who became my friend even though I was extremely bossy and who showed me sleepovers were actually the best. We went through volleyball, tennis, cross country, road trips to Indiana and Utah together, and spent many nights schniking our friends and/or past and current crushes.

To Christian, who wrote me weekly emails to keep in touch after we went to different middle schools and was always down for a game of ping pong and to contemplate big life questions throughout high school and beyond.

To Kaitlin, who helped me ease into high school and feel like I belonged and was valued as an individual.

To Tara, who showed me how to put effort and emotion into a long-distance friendship while still a teenager.

To Krista, who showed me optimistic excitement was the best way to live life and that everyone both needed a friend and could be a friend. She loved the most uncoordinated kids in PE class and I’ve never forgotten how her treatment of them fostered their participation and comfort in class.

To Jenny, who spent her Saturdays throughout high school running with me and getting lost in Greencrest Park while we worked through boy problems and considered our different faiths.

To Li-Mae, who was the only one good enough at writing to help me edit my papers in English class.

To Orrin, who showed me kindness, gentleness, and intelligence were important. 

To Madeleine, who made my high school exchange to Germany one of the best experiences of my adolescence. 

To Marisha, who shared a lot with me: a locker, an adoration for our school’s history teachers, a love of mountains and learning, and in college, a room.

To Shay, who was and is the best person to tell boy stories to or watch a rom-com with, who is the epitome of empathy.

To Rachel and Elise, who I went on my first girl-lunch dates with when we all learned to drive.

To Kiley, who helped me learn to not emotionally procrastinate. 

To Charlotte, who gave me the liberty to be as crazy and hyper as I wanted to be. 

To Jamie, who taught me the importance of picking the right font and of being a true leader.

To Anne, who was my only new friend in a time when I desperately needed people who cared about me.

To Chelsea, who always gave me the best dating advice and knew how to make life an adventure. 

To India, who helped me become a travel-junkie and never let small talk get in the way of big things during morning runs together.

To Isabelle, who helped me slow down.

To Kylee, who helped me learn how to really pray.

To Heidi, who taught me about dedication, choice, happiness, and health.

To Kristin, who was sunshine to everyone she met.

To Janine, who focused on kindness.

To Kasandra, who I was convinced was an actual fairy seeing as everyone and everything she touched turned into gold.

To Jessica, who loved big.

To Matt, who helped me think critically and always supported my free spirit.

To Selina, who knew how to give the best gifts.

To Becca, who became my sister in every sense of the word.

To Kathryn, who almost had the same birthday and curly hair as me.

To Carol, who was wise beyond her years.

To Kyra, who was smart and secretly sassy.

To Jennifer, who started living my same life in 2011 and never stopped being my mentor, friend, and sister in German academia, spiritual queries, and personal development. 

To Melena, who helped me more fully embrace feminism and explore my faith in a brave, safe space (and brought fun to each space she inhabited).

To Emily, who taught me how to validate those around me through words and physical affection.

To Michael, who taught me about truth, authenticity, and questions.

To Jake and Mariana, who showed me what loyalty and commitment looked like.

To Guillermo, who showed me how to dream.

To Andrew, who taught me normal people can do extraordinary things.

To Karl, who was excited about every beautiful thing.

To everyone at the FLSR, who showed me what true community feels like. 

To Scott and Becky, who always made me feel home when I was with them.

To Whitney, Annie, and Elise, who were the best of listeners.

To Rachel, who was a powerhouse of dedication.

To Jake, who helped me feel like I fit in at graduate school.

To Corinna, who let me celebrate love when I found it and complain about parts of grad life I didn’t find so great.

To Mason, who appreciated all the weird parts about me. 

To Danni, who kept me young and gave me a place to talk about hard things. 

To Morgan, who showed me I had a place and a people in Indiana.

Thank you for being my friend, for loving me while I struggled to grow and to create the person I am today. Thank you for being a source of happy memories as I continue to grow and to create the person I will be tomorrow. Your support for Team Claire has been a beautiful gift that I will continue to cherish for all my days.