Dear Friend

When I first met you, it was in a geography class, and I remember this cute, intelligent looking girl sitting alone on the other side of the room. "Note to self," I said mentally, this class involves group work, and I'm going to get that smart girl on my team.

Then came the day of picking teams. I saw the choices, and knowing that a project with Parks Canada might one day lead to a job with Parks Canada (well, that never actualized, but you can't blame me for trying), I decided to shout out "I'm doing Lake O'Hara! I'm doing Lake O'Hara" in the way a child might say "Called it!"

To my surprise, the brown-haired, quiet girl also jabbed the air with a "I will too!" Okay, so maybe this dramatized, but I felt it happen like this!

And that brought us to a strange group of Smarty, WannabeSmarty(me), Slacker and Enthusiastic (I'll let you arrange the titles to the people).

I realized quickly that Stephanie was not shy as much as she was serious, and she immediately took on the hard and difficult tasks of our project, the parts that were far from glamourous. This had the effect of the rest of us sort of slacking off. But the best part of this was when Stephanie made a mistake and got reamed out by the professor on behalf of us. She left the room immediately, and I followed, realizing she might be upset. I found her in the bathroom, looking like the cutest darned girl I've ever seen, big tears coming down! You can't help but hug Stephy, it is so rare that you meet someone who is completely sincere and truly is empathetic to a cause.

Well, we resolved our project and took a break to hit up the Lake O'Hara region in the fall, Stephanie trekking in some chili for the trip, which we never ate. I remember trying to impress her with all my tracks knowledge, which is none. Then we all decided to leave and go to the hot springs instead of spending the night, and it was here that Stephanie finally learned what a goof I am. I tried squeezing into a bathing suit meant for someone much, much smaller than I. I got stuck, and had to get her help (I didn't really need help, I just wanted an audience for my ridiculousness). She helped me get a new suit, that was appropriate for my size.

After that, I had the pleasure of stopping in to see Steph and Roger whenever I could, dropping by their apartment at the most random times, and I was always a welcome guest. i remember Steph giving me strawberries from Planet Organic, and afterwards, I never bought another strawberry covered in pesticides again. She had convinced me with her sincere sales pitch ("they were only $3!" along with putting them in a cutesy little bowl).

It was extremely sad when Steph and Rog decided to move back to Ontario, but knowing how much they enjoy the things we like as well (outdoors, biking and walking, yoga, organic discounted strawberries, family), it was no surprise either.

While I can't be there for the wedding, I feel like I know Steph and Roger enough to know that they will be so happy with this commitment, I always felt like Justin was Steph and I was Roger when I would hear Steph talk about their relationship! I don't have a lot of "old college buddies", but the ones like Steph that I do have, I know I will stay in touch with and hope to go on an adventure or two with along the road again, this time in a well-fitting bathing suit! And I'll eat that chili next time too!