“It’s Grace and Gracyn!”
They always say it before I can, even when I’m the one calling them. Grace just loves saying both of their names – she says it’s because “it sounds so cute.” And honestly, she’s right. It does sound cute. Everything about our friendship is cute – the way we talk to each other, the way we show up, the way we’re there, no questions asked. It’s cute, it’s special, it’s supportive, it’s attentive, and most of all it’s forever.
We were not always we — not from the start. Just names in rooms, faces in passing, almost-friends, waiting for the right moment to begin.
Gracyn came first. Easy to talk to – like finding room for more when dessert’s brought out. She showed up in Barcelona, not for the tapas, not for the Gaudí skyline, but for me.
“I want to see your school. I want to see where you eat. I want to see where you do your homework.” And I saw in that moment, the city became something else – less postcard, more home.
We got drunk in Copenhagen, looking desperately for more curry sauce at the KFC. We beer tasted in Düsseldorf, ate our way through Barcelona, and danced like we didn’t need sleep. But the best parts were my friends and Gracyn asking me how school was and how my project was going.
Grace came quietly. A slow burn, the kind of person who shows up when it really counts. We stayed in Boulder that summer – everyone else was gone, but Grace was there for my 21st, laughing like we’d known each other longer. With our boyfriends we camped and adventured. She met me in the in-betweens and we bonded in the car rides, by the campfire, and on our walks away from the campsite looking for somewhere to pee.
And when I needed to say things I couldn’t speak aloud, Grace let me. She opened the door to my hidden thoughts, never pushing. She doesn’t just show up for the fun parts – she’s there for the hard stuff too, always reassuring me every step of the way, never letting me face it alone.
Then came fall, and the three of us. Something clicked. Suddenly, we were cooking dinner, screaming at football games, doing homework side by side, and talking about the meaning of it all until 4 a.m.. Sleepovers with no movies, just words unraveling like thread – intense and safe and infinite.
This isn’t just a college friendship – this is lifeline stuff. This is “we’ll be fine after graduation” because we already are.
Grace, Gracyn – thank you for becoming my people. You are the softest part of my story.