wedding road trip

Drawing the Map aka Battle Royale

Chris and I got together this afternoon to work on the first iteration of the road trip route. As we fueled ourselves with lowfat mozzarella, wheat crust, deep dish pizza, we poured over a map, leftover from my Steps Across America days. Everything was going fine… until we hit the southern part of the United States.

Jaime (focused): So, if we go to Orlando, we can cut across through Tampa. I know someone in Tampa that we could visit. Then we’ll go on to Fort Myers- maybe-

Chris (annoyed): Wait. I’d rather go to Miami then see some random person in Tampa.

Jaime (defensive): She’s not a random person. We spent four months walking across the country together. She’s one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. She’s traveled all over the world.

Chris (going in for the kill): Is her number in your cell?

Jaime (stuttering): No. But I just got this backup phone a month ago. She’s in my other “real” phone.

Chris (gloating): When was the last time you talked to her?

Jaime (exasperated): Dude, she’s ALL OVER my Facebook page.

Chris (adopts his best sage expression): She sounds cool. I’m just saying… I don’t want you to end up hurt. These friendships you have might be more important to you- they might just be a blip on someone’s radar.

So, ladies and gents… the gauntlet has been thrown. I believe Chris is entirely wrong. I think the friendships we create in life are like an infinite tapestry, beginning and ending, ebbing and flowing. Whether I knew you best in high school or know you better now, we have history. You have knowledge about love, marriage and life that you want to share. We’re coming to see you- not because we have to, not because you’re the only person we know in town- but because we want to.

And it’s going be a blast.