The Birth of the Brooch

This is the story of three best friends who wish they could still share daily life together.

The story begins years ago, in 2007, when we met at Wheaton College. We were all very different people then. We were also very different from each other. Double D was tormented by her chemistry homework next door. Kel was putting quotes on every surface of our dorm room. I was... well, someone else can describe me.

Brought together by Wheaton housing authorities (or God) we went through a lot together, and did all the things that college girls do in stories like this-- laughed, cried, ate delicious food, talked about boys, went to Chicago, watched movies, hosted Christmas parties, went to D's for spring break, etc. We also went through less ordinary things like deaths in the family, hospital trips, and my wedding.

One day in late summer 2012, we were sitting outside the Jamba Juice/Caribou by Butterfield Rd. It was the last time we were going to be together for the foreseeable future. Kelly was moving back to NC, and I already lived in Madison. Kelly was dressed like a movie star with a white sleeveless top and a white, wide-brimmed sunhat with a black ribbon. We had just come from a park that was packed with soccer kids' families and cars and ended up at the Jamba Juice patio for lack of anywhere else to go sit and talk. We didn't even have drinks. We were just savoring the time together. I can't remember what we talked about, but I remember feeling the happiest I had felt in a long time.

Somehow, while we were talking in British accents, as we have been known to do on occasion, someone brought up the word "brooch" (said in the voice of an old British woman). We were looking for an object that we could mail back and forth that wouldn't be as expensive as jeans. We don't wear the same size anyway (and neither did those actors in that movie!). A brooch seemed like just the thing.

And so it began. We went over to TJ Maxx and tried to find one that day, but had no such luck. We went to Charming Charlie's. I sent photos out when I got to Madison of several I had on hand (haha that was a funny sentence!). Kelly got the brooch first to help her with the move. Now D has it. Someday I will get it. Hopefully before the winter is over. How are we going to wear it in the summer I wonder...