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Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

October 3, 2014

Stories of Friendship: The one next door {guest post by Lisa Betz}

Last week, I told you a story of friendship and asked for you to share yours with me. Lisa Betz answered that call with a story of her own. Read on to find out about a special friend in her life. Then head over to Lisa’s blog and read her humorous insights about life.

I was understandably nervous about going off to college, especially since college would be over 1,500 miles away from home. I wasn’t expecting to know anyone, but it turns out there WAS one other entering freshman I knew—a girl from my old hometown who, like me, had moved away during high school. She and I just happened to be assigned to the same hall. (Isn’t God great?)

Having an old friend at the other end of the hall helped me get through those first tough weeks, but she and I were not quite on the same wavelength. I wanted someone who was a kindred spirit, and I found her living next door. By the end of the first month we had become friends. By the end of that first semester we were definitely sidekicks. (Some people confused our names, although we did not look much alike.) Russ and Steve 001

We spent the remaining three years rooming together. We hung out, we shared life (the ups and the downs), we encouraged each other’s faith, and when the stress of studying got out of hand, we baked stuff. Those four years held some of the best memories of my life.

When college was over we parted ways and now Carol lives over 2,000 miles away. We don’t see each other often, but when we do manage to get together, our friendship is right where we left it. Despite our many differences, we are still kindred spirits. And still great friends.

Got a story of friendship to share? E-mail me at lmbartelt (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll share it here on Fridays. Send a picture, too, if you have one!

Filed Under: Friendship Tagged With: friendship

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  1. Stories of Friendship: The one who takes me as I am | Living Echoes says:
    October 10, 2014 at 7:04 am

    […] A few weeks ago, we started talking about friendship here, and today’s post is another installment. Do you have a story of friendship you’d like to share? Send me a few paragraphs and a photo to lmbartelt (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll post it on a Friday. Check out the previous posts in the series about my friend Dawn and about Lisa Betz’s friend Carol. […]

    Reply
  2. Stories of Friendship: The ones who know our then and now | Living Echoes says:
    October 17, 2014 at 7:04 am

    […] in my life. You can read past stories here and here, as well as a guest post on the subject here. If you have a friend you’d like to honor with a story of friendship, e-mail me at lmbartelt […]

    Reply
  3. Stories of Friendship: The one who encouraged me | Living Echoes says:
    October 24, 2014 at 7:01 am

    […] who’ve been on a journey with us across states. And you can read this guest post about a friend who was right next door. Maybe you have a story to tell too? Send it to me at lmbartelt (at) gmail (dot) com, along with a […]

    Reply

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Photo by Rachel Lynn Photography

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Hi. I’m Lisa, and I’m glad you’re here. If we were meeting in real life, I’d offer you something to eat or drink while we sat on the porch letting the conversation wander as it does. That’s a little bit what this space is like. We talk about books and family and travel and food and running, whatever I might encounter in world. I’m looking for the beauty in the midst of it all, even the tough stuff. (You’ll find a lot of that here, too.) Thanks for stopping by. Stay as long as you like.

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