Please watch this video before reading the rest of the post :))
Song: Sweet Disposition // The Temper Trap
May 1st, 2016: the absolute last day to request a roommate as an incoming college freshman. I scanned the posts of all the other students who were in the same boat I was in, looking to meet their future roommates on Facebook. I eventually decided to message Lexi. I sent a little blurb about myself and asked if she still needed someone to live with. She responded saying that she was talking to another girl who she might request, but it wasn't finalized yet so she would get back to me. We talked briefly about our hometowns, and how we both liked photography… I didn’t know if I would actually ever hear a response from her, but late that same night she messaged me to say that it didn’t pan out with the other girl, so we could go ahead and put each other down on the request form.
And that was the beginning of how she became one of my BirdBoats.
I remember walking into our little dorm room that first day of move in. She was standing there across the room rearranging some furniture, and we awkwardly hugged and said hi for the first time. It didn’t take long though, before we were staying up late talking about our lives at home and bonding over our weird similarities.
As we began navigating this new chapter of life together, we became best friends fast.
She is so funny. Like the kind of funny that isn't the loudest in the room but if you're paying attention, it's hilarious. She's easy-going, always up for a new adventure, and there's a constant gleam of laughter in her bright green eyes. Whether we are at school in South Carolina, traveling in a foreign country, or both at our homes for the summer, we are always there for each other, no matter what.
What i’ve come to appreciate the most about Lexi is her unwavering positivity and sweet disposition. It makes her the best company. Every single day is fun and filled with laughter no matter what we are doing.
There have been countless occasions over the past three years when I have felt gratitude for our ability to make the best out of any and all situations. For now, I’m going to mention just a few of my (many) favorite days with Lexi, that could have been not so great days without her.
In March, while we were studying abroad we went to Rome for the weekend with some friends and had booked different flights home to Barcelona. My flight was to get in an hour & a half before hers so I told her I would just wait at the airport for her flight to land and we could taxi home together. Our phones were both on 1% just as she landed so I told her exactly where I was sitting in the airport so that she could find me even after our phones died. I waited for a while and did some people watching. About 30 minutes had passed but I know it takes a while for everyone to de-board the plane and everything, so I waited some more. At this point I had been waiting almost 50 minutes when I had the thought that maybe her flight didn't come into the same terminal as mine. I walked up to the arrivals board. Low and behold, her flight wasn't on there. Then I go to the information desk and ask what terminal RyanAir flies into, and the woman told me terminal one.
I had been waiting nearly 3 hours at terminal two :).
So I rush and hop on a shuttle to terminal one, thinking that Lexi was probably wandering around looking for me there. I looked for her in all of the places I thought she might be, but she was nowhere to be found. My next thought was that perhaps she had the same realization about us being at different terminals, and maybe she had shuttled over to where I originally was waiting..? I hop back on the shuttle bus, and go back to terminal two.
Still no Lexi.
Other people might have just gone home long ago but I would never leave anyone somewhere that I had a set plan with. So after an elapsed time of almost three and a half hours since my flight had landed in Barcelona that morning, I finally decided to metro home (which is about an hour journey). I fell asleep on the way and a nice man tapped me to wake me up and tell me it was the last stop. I was very thankful he did because it was my stop and If I had stayed asleep I would have ended up all the way right back at the airport. I finally got back to our building, get in the elevator and press floor five, and just as the doors open, I see Lexi standing there outside of our apartment door. Without saying anything, we just stared at each other for a second and then burst out laughing. She had taxi’d home which is a 25 minute ride while I metroed for an hour and we somehow got home within five minutes of each other.
”I've never been so happy to see another person in my life,” she said.
I wont lie, it wasn't the most fun situation i’ve ever been in. Wandering around the airport with my suitcase and dead phone looking for my friend, so tired from getting two hours of sleep the night before. Either of us could have looked at the other and said "Where the heck were you? I wasted two hours looking everywhere! We were supposed to meet right outside of the baggage claim." But those thoughts of frustration and anger didn't even cross my mind, and I don't think they did in hers either. Instead, we trundled into our apartment, fell onto our beds, and took turns explaining our journeys trying to find one another. She shuttled to terminal two to find me, and I shuttled to terminal one to find her. Didn't work out for either of us but it ended up making us laugh until our stomachs hurt and being a funny story to tell.
Our second day in Barcelona, we decided to journey to IKEA to get some hangers. We didn’t have any data on our phones to look up how to get there so we kept getting lost on the metro. After quite a handful of line switches, we ended up getting off at a stop that was so desolate we felt like we weren't even in Spain anymore. It was getting dark but after a long trek we saw the huge yellow letters in the distance that spelled IKEA and made it to our precious hangers. I don't really know why it was so much fun, it just was. We were just two girls in a new city, excited about the adventure of it all, not knowing where we were going, trying to get to IKEA. I'm not sure a lot of other people would have been able to make a day long journey to get hangers very exciting. But because it was her and I, we found a way.
Then there was that time I got churros and brought home the extra chocolate in a cup. We reheated it that night and were dipping strawberries in it in our beds and she dropped a huge blob of dark chocolate on my white sheets.
And we just looked at each other and lost it.
These stories might not seem very funny or special to anyone reading this but I appreciate them because each could have gone in completely different directions and imprinted on me a very different way had I not been with someone so positive. We could think to ourselves “oh that day sucked so much when we couldn't find each other in the airport." Or "oh that sucked when you stained my bright white sheets with churro chocolate." Or "oh this sucks we have to walk a mile to IKEA" . But we didn’t.
Instead we just always manage to take everything as it comes and it has made for some of my favorite memories. When we are together it feels like nothing in the world could squash our spirits. And this is how Lexi helps me to fly.
A few days while I was abroad were pretty tough. A really close family member of mine passed away. It was truly heartbreaking and being an ocean away from the rest of my family didn't make it any easier. The day I found out, I was supposed to meet a family friend for dinner who was visiting on a business trip. Because it was such a hectic day, time slipped away from me and I completely blanked on our dinner plans. I frantically messaged him, apologized, and said I would rush over as soon as I could. On the way home from dinner, my parents called me to talk about what had happened and I got one of those huge golfballs in my throat. You know the one that makes it feel like you can't breathe and you just can't seem to get it out even when you try. Walking into my apartment, trying to hold back my tears, the first thing I saw was Lexi, holding a bottle of wine and my favorite candy. "Come out with us?" she asked. As I looked at her, I knew she understood that wine, candy and going out would not solve my problems really... but it was her way of saying she was there for me, to keep me afloat.
It's perfectly okay and valid to be sad sometimes. But if you know me, you know I rarely get upset over things and it's not often that I lean on my friends like I did that night with Lexi. However, the sheer fact of knowing that if and when I ever do need them, they will be there, is so awesome. Because I know that not everyone has people in their lives who would do the same.
Another time came when my day wasn't going exactly as planned. and this was after Lexi had already left Barcelona. In a nutshell. My parents were flying in to visit me and I had planned on picking them up at the airport. I took a taxi to ship my 100 pounds of luggage home to the states, and the address to the drop off location they gave me ended up being a dentist office. I had no data on my phone to contact anyone including the luggage company or my parents to tell them I wouldn't be coming to the airport. (first world problems). nothing that couldn't be solved and nothing to get down about...but at the end of the day I texted Lexi and told her I wished she was there with me so I could have laughed about it all with her.
It’s really hard to have bad days when you have people in your life like Lexi.
If how much we laugh on our worst days together is any indication of how much we laugh on our great days, then I’d say I'm pretty lucky to have a friend like her.
Its funny looking back because we so easily could not have crossed paths. She almost went to a different college, I might not have seen her profile and messaged her on Facebook, she could have roomed with that other girl she was talking to. So many other scenarios could have played out. But instead, I found the girl who loves to watch documentaries, listen to Chelsea Cutler, and eat buenos just as much as me. I'm so thankful I get to spend my college years with someone so positive and full of love.
Lex, You’re the best roommate I could’ve gotten stuck with to have a sleepover with 600+ nights. and when these days are over I know i’ll miss them so much but look back so fondly on all of the fun we had.
When we are together there is no situation that we cant conquer with a sense of humor and good spirit.
Thank you for being one of my BirdBoats.
Love you 5ever,
Serena :
This is such a lovely tribute to your friend! It is very inspiring because I do believe that maintaining that positive attitude and humor despite all of the obstacles placed in the way is key in experiencing happiness. Your video is amazing!! The beauty, joy and spirit communicated by you and Lexi make it very compelling. It was clear that this was natural footage over time that you drew from and edited into a single piece. It was extremely well done and the more I watch it the more I appreciate the editing and how well the beautiful song you chose fits the piece. I look forward to more of your work!!