Jessica is a dancer — elegant, beautiful, disciplined. She’s a senior at Kings who I’ve known for four years now (what?!) and it’s been really fun to watch her grow and mature into who she is today.
She’s planning to go south for college next year and is applying to schools like Auburn and Clemson. I’m thinking she must like tigers and the color orange…
Brooke is a senior at Kings High School who has her eyes set on heading south next year. I met her through Young Life and quickly noticed that she is genuine and sincere, and that her friends value her in their lives. She’s a cheerleader in more than one sense of the word. Yes, she stands on the sidelines shouting for the Knights (not to mention, she’s the cheer #captain). But, she’s also a friend who advocates for the people and things she loves. She’s an encourager and a listener; and when she believes in something, she shares about it with grace and excitement.
“I put so much of my worth into doing well in school. My dad passed away when I was 10 and I do a lot of things to try to make him proud. School is absolutely one of those things. I’ve been working hard lately to try and fix my eyes on Jesus rather than my own doomed attempt of being perfect at everything I do. I want to care more about relationships with the people around me rather than striving to be perfect.”
It could have been the rainy weather or my hormones. Am I having a quarter-life crisis? Maybe. The photos on Facebook of kids going back to school have me feeling pretty nostalgic, so those could be to blame. But whatever the reason, I cried on I-71 North yesterday. “Old Friends” by Ben Rector came on when I was just north of Redbank Road and in a perfectly timed series of events, the chorus hit while I was stopped (#rushhour) next to the exit I would have taken to go to my childhood home and boom, tears.
Old friends are the strangest group of people, aren’t they? I barely know them now, what they do, where they live. If I don’t follow them on social media, I might not even recognize them in public. They don’t know my married name, but they know the kid that I used to be. And that might mean know me better than all of my ‘new’ friends– the friends who know me as Kathryn Tilmes, who know what I do, and where I live.
Because you can’t really know someone like you know a friend you’ve seen get yelled at by their parents. You can’t really know someone like you know a friend who’s house is intertwined in your memories with your own. A friend who’s clothes you borrowed; a friend who lived down the road in a place where you showed up unannounced at the backdoor; someone who ate dinner at a table that you helped set before you both sat down to eat with their family (after you got permission from your mom, of course). That’s a different level of friendship. That’s sacred.
And then, because middle school is hard and high school is weird, you grew apart or got in a fight about something that you can’t even remember. Or, the most haunting, you didn’t get in a fight at all. The friendship never really ended, but at some point you fell out of touch until you had your last conversation one day without even knowing it.
So, yeah, I cried. I cried over those memories and friendships and a childhood I’ll never get back. But I also cried because I’m hopeful that one day I’ll have a kid who rides a bike down our street with a friend who’s parents feel like they’re part of our family, too. Maybe someday I’ll be stuck in (#rushhour) traffic on I-71 North while my kid and a friend set our table. And then when I get back home, we’ll all eat dinner together… our family and the friend who feels like an extension of us because she happens to live next door. Thinking of the past + hoping for the future made me realize that it’s all sacred. The little moments make us who we are.
I’m thankful for: Ben Rector making music that makes me feel something. Rita Lane, the orange bus, Madeira High School, and the friendships made in those places. Old friends and our little moments that made me who I am. New friends and how seamlessly they feel part of my life now. (and especially) The friendships that started years ago and have stood the test of time.
Spend more time with your neighbors.
Last night, Sean proposed to Bekah and then they celebrated with family and friends. And in those moments, heaven felt really close to Mount Adams and Maineville, Ohio.
Bekah talking about wedding rings: “I sent a ton of pictures to Liz and told her to give them to Sean. I knew I wanted rose gold, but this is better than I expected.”
Sean talking about wedding rings: “Bekah thought a ring was, like, $1,000.”
I’ve known Karleigh for a few years, and I can’t believe I’m posting this– her senior blog post– right now. I first met her at a football game her freshman year and have had the gift of watching her mature and grow through high school, but it has gone by way too fast.
Karleigh is the best type of friend to run through life with. She comes alongside her friends and reminds them that they’re worth knowing. She will celebrate the victories in her life, but will also share the parts that seem like losses in the moment. It’s as if she has a deeply rooted belief that the difficult things exist in order to grow trust, endurance, and resilience. And because of that belief, she can celebrate the hard moments and keep running to the finish line beside her friends as she encourages them to believe the same.
Karleigh is also a runner. Not metaphorical anymore, but the real-deal. She’s really fast and really good. She plans to run in college and has her eyes on a handful of schools in Ohio and Indiana.
Chad + Christy met in high school and spent their first date by the lake that is down the path from the house where Christy grew up. So, it seemed appropriate that Chad would ask her to be his wife on the same dock where they first began to grow feelings for each other. Young love is something special. It’s unfiltered, affectionate, unashamed, and deeply rooted in hope. Watching the proposal from behind my lens was a gift, really. These two have an incredible love for each other. It bubbled out of them and I swear it could have filled up Landen Lake.
Christy’s BFFs from Miami, Anna Kate + Kylynne, picked her up from a restaurant where she was eating with her family and drove her to the lake where Chad waited for her. I love how he planned the night in order to catch Christy by complete surprise.
I met Jessie through Young Life at Kings High School. She is friendly + fun, and has a wonderful laugh. When she asked me to take her senior photos, I was honored. It was fun to explore Eden Park on a windy Sunday evening together while we captured an important milestone in her life.
At the end of the summer, Jessie will move to Maryland where she’ll play lacrosse at Frostburg State University. I’d say that sentence sums up a lot about who she is. She’s open-minded to new experiences (or moving to a new state!), she is athletic + strong (capable of playing lacrosse at the collegiate level. you go girl.), and she is mature + independent. Also, this might not be obvious yet, but it’s about to be… she has the most beautiful blue eyes.
this photo sums up the night: pizza + crowds of friends = a blurry commotion + a lot of fun.
savannah, ashley, abby, summer, ashlyn!
danielle, isa, trinity, paige!
haley, gracie, jordyn!
douglas sisters – always lifting one another up.
and then snappy tomato arrived!
“JOEL, JOEL, JOEL, JOEL, JOEL, JOEL, JOEL”
“AN-GEL-ICA! AN-GEL-ICA! AN-GEL-ICA!”
“MIKE, MIKE, MIKE, MIKE, MIKE”
“JAMES! Honorable mention. Good job, James.”
carolyn + gracie!
sydney, ellie, spencer!
*-the sky was pretty, but they were prettier-*
which one isn’t a senior? idk, you tell me.
2018!
cute lil isa + brooke
which one isn’t a douglas sister? idk, you tell me.
maddie, sarah, hannah, avneet!
sav + ashlyn!
ally, sophie, emilee!
*-blue eyes, pink skies-*
caroline, ally, carolyn!
one more time for the winner of the 2017 pizza olympics, JOEL.
they’re the real MVPs, though.
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