When asked if we've always gotten along as well as we do now, Ate (Filipino for "older sister") likes to tell people that she once pushed me down the stairs during a fight. Apparently I was so traumatized by the event that I have blocked it out and don’t even recall an argument. My sister was apparently so traumatized that she has spent the entire rest of her life trying to make it up to me by doing amazing sisterly things. My parents, on the other hand, maintain that I was never pushed and my sister probably had an overactive imagination. Whatever the case, I have the awesome-est sister ever - she once even punched a boy who was bothering me (another traumatizing incident I don't remember). She's been my confidante ever since I had secrets worth sharing, something that will continue until we are both old and senile and can't remember anything anyway.
Drea and I met in sixth grade at Power Middle School and have been close friends ever since. Over the years we have shared laughter and tears, survived silly boys and sleepover camps, and competed in the world finals for Odyssey of the Mind as revamped Revolutionary War figures Betsy Ross and Paul Revere. In high school we worked musicals and plays, me on the props crew and she on wardrobe, though she once adopted me as a supplemental member of the costume crew - quite an honor, considering (as another friend once put it) I knew more about sewing than expected but less than was hoped for. We always had fun together - even breaking out into spontaneous swing dance routines (with her leading) during high school band/orchestra fund-raising events. Though our divergent post-high school paths have led us quite far apart (she now lives in New York), whenever we catch up it is as if no time has passed at all.
Roommate, lab-mate, and culinary partner in crime (check out our food blog!), Gayatri and I have been great friends since I joined the research group in which she worked. Well, I suppose I was a little shy at first, and took a couple months to branch out and get to know people outside my particular project. However, our friendship was cemented soon after, and is marked by our inability to (1) walk together without bumping into each other and (2) correctly hear what the other has said (ask about tulips and cube roots). In spite of this, we have successfully gone on road trips, attended conferences, and even traversed Italy (minus one missed train). Gayatri has helped keep me sane during our concurrent struggle through our Ph.D. studies – sometimes by cooking up fancy new meals together, many times by agreeing to accompany me on less-than-necessary trips to Target or Kohl’s.
My only brother, Chris, and I were either at odds or oblivious to each other while growing up. With me being four years older, we typically weren't doing the same things. When we were, we were fighting over them. Being the larger, I won of course. Chris' response was to develop a skeletal system of solid tungsten and the muscle mass to support it (seriously, that kid is tough!).
Games were something on which we could usually agree, especially Nintendo and computer games. Oh the endless hours we spent playing Doom 2. It was like a special gift when we figured out how to make and use a null-modem cable -- deathmatch and co-op (turned deathmatch) around the clock.
As we grew up, some of our interests and goals diverged, but we could always find something to talk about. He's currently off at flight school after serving a year in Iraq. I could not be prouder, and I'm honored to have him as my best man.
Jason, John, and I met in the first grade at Klondike Elementary School. We were inseparable throughout grade school and high school. We attended Purdue University together, though they went through the Chemical Engineering program while I was in Computer Science and Mathematics. We roomed together beginning Sophomore year through graduation in 2004. Shortly afterward, both Jason and John ended up taking jobs with Caterpillar, Inc. where they still work today. Jason is currently located in the Atlanta area and John now resides in Peoria, IL.
If you're thinking they sound very much alike, I couldn't agree more. In fact, the only way I can tell them apart is that I know John is blond (I'll probably pay for that statement). In all honesty, they were great friends to have growing up and they're great people to know now. I'm very grateful that they have agreed to stand beside me at the altar.