"I hear excited giggle in the vicinity, which brings me out of my head and into the moment. My tired eyes scan the porch for the source: my dear friends in awe of a story written in a guest book at an airbnb (in the middle of nowhere Florida).
A stranger had written a six-page story in a wide ruled hardback journal. A story that has my friends hooked; I hear gasps. What started as a casual scanning of a guestbook turned into Megan exclaiming, “this should be published.”
Lena and I sit laughing, completely unphased by the array of emotions they are experiencing. Too busy sipping on a glass of red and drowning in a sea of fabric that is my oversized hoodie.
And then I begin to think about the power of a story. The joyful euphoria it can bring to one’s life."
-Cabin Trip, Spring Break 2016
There have been so many stories in the Kittycastle, some that have hurt us, some that have made stronger, and a lot that have made us wiser. But perhaps it is most important to focus on the people behind those stories, those beautiful moments in time. Katya, Megan, and Lena, I don't know what those moments would have been like without you.
When I moved into apartment 3405, I didn't realize that I'd be making friends for life. You guys have been my home for three years now, and it scares me knowing we won't be living together anymore. But I do know we will all move on to do amazing things, and that one day we will return to that same cabin to check on the stories we left behind. I mean stories (plural) because (1) We physically wrote our own "sequel" to the story we read and (2) I believe we left a piece of our own narratives amidst the quiet paradise full of wine and sturgeon.
Thank you for coming on this journey of life with me. Through it you've all shaped my story, and my story is who I am. In other words thank you for helping me turn into the person that I am today. I am so proud of all of you, and I know within my soul that one day we will all achieve our wildest dreams. In the meantime, I love you all. It has been an honor growing with you.