Chapter 2--NeighBOR Chelsea

Chelsea packed her things and moved on a Friday. May 5, 2006 to be exact. She would be back the following semester, but it wouldn’t be the same. She wouldn’t have her own room and the house wouldn’t contain all of her things.

In my dreams, we all left at the same time. The three houses would pack together and go their separate ways all at once.

But that’s not how life happens. First, Emily left.
Then Jonathan and Tucker moved away.
Shambra got married and moved a couple of blocks away.
Allison bought a house all the way across town.
And then, it was Chelsea's turn.

It was so strange to go outside and see new cars at Southside. And to not be able to walk into either of those houses so freely was such and unfamiliar feeling.
It was odd to walk down the hall, open the door and not see Chelsea’s things.
So many times I would walk in there to borrow clothing and realize that those weren't her things.
To not know exactly where everything was made me feel like a stranger in my own home at times.
Who knew that looking in the kitchen cabinet and not seeing her dishes could make a person sad. But it did.

I remember the very first time that I met Chelsea. I went to 919 for Karaoke and Chelse came in, went straight to the kitchen, got a wine glass and filled it with red kool-aid and I thought to myself then, “I want to be her friend.” We then sang karaoke together and I learned that she not only was hilarious and entertaining, but also that she had a beautiful voice. A voice that would join mine at church functions and such through the next years. Her sense of humor was sadly, just like mine. We would randomly come up with characters such as “Claudia and Suzanne—the New York Talent Scouts” or “Sabatoo and Minotia—the Yoga Instructors” and even “Joey and Vick—Claudia and Suzanne’s mafia husbands”. Bless those around us who had to endure our random performances. We both had a lot of free time on our hands and would sometimes come up with musical acts to perform for Amanda when she got home from work.

One day I came home for lunch and my video camera was connected to my television. It had a note on it that simply sad, "Play Me". When I hit play, Chelsea appeared on the screen in full costume and character. She performed an entire skit by herself. That's one of my favorite memories!


We both love to write and express our emotions. I enjoyed being able to share my work with her. She was always so positive in her critiques, yet still honest.

Chelsea is so much more talented than I ever dreamed of being. She is what I would call a true artist. She can do anything—paint, draw, write, sing, acting—you name it and she can do it.

When I moved into the house, I knew that I would have roommates, but I never knew that I would also find my soul-mates. But that is what they are. They know me and love me, even when I don’t really know or love myself so much. They have been there when I was so mad that I couldn’t see straight and they got mad with me. They laughed with me until we all hurt. And, they cried with me, until I had no tears left.

I remember one time in particular that will always be so special to me. It seems insignificant to others, but not to me.
I had had one of my first heartbreaks and Chelsea and I were the only one’s left in the house. I was sitting on one couch and Chelsea sat on the other, opposite the room from me. We were both silent for along time; she never pressured me to talk if I didn't want to.  But then, she rose quietly from her seat, came and sat next to me, put her arm around me, and as the tears flooded out of me, she hugged me and cried with me.
You see, those are real friends. The ones that are not just there for you when you hurt or cry or are mad, but those that feel those emotions with you.

Chelsea, Amanda and I often made time for “Roommate Dates”, going to Bricktown to eat and just spending time together. Maybe if you are lucky, we will share with you the story about the famous game of “Scrabble” we once played... On these dates, we took each other out for the others birthdays and one time, an unbirthday.

We also had what we referred to as "Bathroom Tuesdays". This started one evening when we decided we would do pedicures. We all sat on the edge of the tub and washed our feet and began talking. We ended up sitting in that tiny bathroom together talking for hours. Why we didn't move into another room, I'll never know. But this became one of those things that we did often.

Chelsea’s parents owned an Angus ranch and every year they were invited to Express Ranches to the big Angus sale, dinner and concert. Amanda and I were invited to join and got to share in the fun. On those nights, to be able to get in to the event, we became the Thomas Sisters. Our families became one another's. We really loved each other like sister’s do.

A couple of days after Chelsea moved out, she came back to the house to stay with Amanda and I. She, Amanda, our new roommate Margarite and I were driving around in the rain, playing a prank on some of our other friends. We were laughing and listening to the radio when Delilah came on with a classic. We were singing along to “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” from “Dirty Dancing” when Amanda laughed and said something to the effect of how sad the song was and I remember thinking that it really wasn’t at all. But then, as I listened to the words about how this guy had had the time of his life with this girl and his life was forever changed,  it hit me.  She was right, it was sad. It was the perfect song to conclude this part of the soundtrack of our lives. Chelsea, Amanda, and I laughed and cried so hard all at the same time. I’ll never forget that moment. We just kept laughing as the tears flowed down our cheeks. We went home and pulled out the old green couch bed and slept on it together like little girls do. We giggled as we drifted off to sleep.

The next semester when Chelsea came back, the green couch bed became her bed. Many nights were again spent on it. We would all just lay there with our "butts together like quail" (no clue what that means but Chelsea always said it) and talk until we fell asleep.

The night of before college graduation, we slept there for the final time. We took turns before going to bed, doing a video diary to each other. We went into the bathroom for one last "Bathroom Tuesday", one by one and sat in that bathtub and spoke freely to the camera, expressing our love to the other girls. And then, we watched it together and made fun of ourselves for blubbering like babies.

I was a Communications major and Amanda and Chelsea were Art Majors so when we lined up we were not together. But, as we all sat down, it somehow worked out that we all were able to sit near each other. I think that was a little graduation gift from God to us.

I will never in my life find another “Celse”. She is truly one of a kind. When God made her, He smiled and said, “ I did good”. And she is--so very good. She is one of my life’s greatest blessings and joys.

Life was never really the same for 919 North Indiana. Another one had gone, leaving an imprint on my heart that had it’s own shaped hole that could only be filled with wonderful memories.

And oh, the memories it holds! Because “I’ve had the time of my life, I swear it’s the truth” and Chelsea, I owe a lot of it to you!

Chapter 1--NeighBOR Amanda

The green couch was one of three pieces of furniture still left in the house that night. I was sitting on it, tears streaming down my face, when Amanda brought me a glass of very old wine that Chelsea had left in the refrigerator. She sat down beside me and we both took a drink and then immediately spit it out and started laughing. Neither of us even liked wine at that time.
“It just seemed appropriate,” she said.

It was the evening after graduation and Chelsea had already packed her things and moved out for the second and final time. Everyone else had pretty much gone home for the summer. I had already moved all of my things into my parent’s house and was ready to leave for Croatia in just two days.
It hit me then that it was really over. This time we were all really moving and never coming back to that house or that street.

As we sat on the couch the memories flashed through my mind like scenes from a television show; like they do in the series finale. I watched as three years flashed before me in seconds and all I could do was smile through my tears and know I had been blessed with some of the best days of my life.
The scenes played before me from beginning to end.
It was quite appropriate that Amanda was the last one with me, seeing as how she was the one who first invited me to 919 North Indiana.

It actually took me a long time and a lot of thinking to remember the first time I met Amanda. It just felt like we had always been friends.

But, I do remember.
One day I had gone to on campus christian student center to speak with the campus minister about dropping out of school. I was in a bad place in my life;unsure of who I was and where I needed to be,and so depressed that I was rarely coherent of my surroundings. I vaguely remember a tall girl with blonde hair who was sitting at the table by herself. She smiled at me and I’m sure that due to the state that I was in that I did not smile back.

Later, that semester I heard that same girl talking to someone about how she slept about 14 hours a day, and, recognizing the "symptom", I thought “Wow, that girl seems depressed.”
Well, that girl was a friend with some friends of mine and we would all hang out as a group on occasion. She and her roommate Cally, and our mutual friend Sarah spent a lot of time together. I remember stopping at the snow cone stand a lot to visit Amanda where she worked that following summer. I was in need of good Christian friends to spend time with.
One evening all of the girls and I got together to watch a movie. We went to our campus minister’s house and hung out. I was so excited to get to spend time with them. But that evening was the extent of the time I would spend with them that summer.

I’m not exactly sure how it came about, but the next year, Amanda and I became better friends. One evening after a devotional at the student center or "Bible Chair", she and I went to Taco Bell together. We were sitting in the drive-thru and were laughing about who knows what, and I said, “I’m glad we’re friends!” And Amanda laughed and said, “Oh! I’m glad we’re friends too!”
That saying stuck and I can’t begin to count how many times we would repeat it.
I spent the majority of the next semester at 919 North Indiana. I practically lived on their couch.

One night I went to the Bible Chair extremely upset about a family issue and had intended on talking to my friend Jake, who at the time was my confidant. He was busy and I’m not sure if I stopped Amanda or if she stopped me, but I told her I needed to talk to someone.
She sat down with me and as I told her what had happened, she began to cry. She was hurting for me.
I’ve told her several times and still believe to this day, that even though I went in there searching for Jake, God had had a better idea in mind and that He gave her to me just at the right time.
She has been my counselor and shoulder to cry on ever since.

At the end of the semester I knew it was time for me to move out of my parents house and on my own and I secretly hoped that I could move into the house. Chelsea, Amanda and I had talked about it but for some strange reason decided it wouldn’t be a good idea.
The boys next door, Jonathan and Tucker, even got in on it and talked to all three of us without the others knowing, trying to convince us that it was a great idea.
With the newspaper in hand one day, I set out to find a one-bedroom apartment. My phone rang and it was Amanda.
She said, “Chelsea and I found a place for you to live!” I replied, “Oh really, where?”
“919 North Indiana!”, they both screamed.
“919 North Indiana? Isn’t that…that’s where you live!” I screamed back.
And the rest is history. That was the easiest move I have ever made.
I moved in that June and was already home. My heart had already resided there, only now, I had my own room and didn’t have to sleep on the couch.
That following summer was filled with so much fun. That’s when everyone moved onto Indiana and we became a family.

I hardly have a memory on that street that doesn’t include Amanda. If I hadn’t had Amanda, I wouldn’t have the rest of the 7, and I am indebted to her for that.

The following year she and I decided to travel to Thailand together for the summer on a mission campaign. I can’t think of another girl that I would have rather gone on that trip with. Once again, Amanda was my sanity. She calmed me through an anxiety attack and put up with my short temper and fits of insanity.

Amanda is an encourager and a comforter. She is a true woman of God and pushes those around her to be better people.

I have so many “Amanda Stories” that I don’t know which ones to tell.
So, instead I’ll just hit the points that make up Amanda.
Amanda is, like mentioned before, an encourager. She can cheer anyone up.
She hates conflict.
She loves to sing, but in all honesty, is a bit tone deaf. But that doesn’t matter. That girl knows every word to every song ever written and will sing those songs in the car or in front of a crowded cafeteria and will smile all the while.
She is a faller-that is, she falls all the time! I cannot begin to tell you how clumsy she is. She once fell off of our front porch, face down in the flower bed.And of course, laughed the whole time.
She is confident in herself and in her God.
She is a peacemaker.
She hates for people to see her cry but will let you cry how ever long you need to.
She is the tie that brought us all together and many times has kept us together.
She, along with the others, has been my stepping stone, rather than a stumbling block.Which is what a true friend should be. And she is, a true friend.
At Senior Sunday at church the week before graduation, a friend of ours got up to speak about what his life at the Bible Chair had taught him. He spoke of many life lessons and I was shocked and flattered when he mentioned that the chair had helped to develop friendships like “Amanda’s and Carrie’s" and that "it was a friendship to be admired".

That last night the images of years past unfolded before me and as Amanda and I sat on the green couch one last time, my heart hurt because I knew that I would no longer share this house with my best friend.
Amanda sat there with me as the tears poured out and she encouraged and comforted me, yet again.

Amanda, I am and will always be, glad that we are friends.