I met Charlotte in a café on campus after being told that she would be the girl I were to go on exchange with.
At this time in my life I was surrounded by a great group of friends, I had a boyfriend, I also had no idea how or when I was going to go to law school. Looking back now it feels as though I had a seemingly completely different life than I do now.
It’s funny. Little did I know that going into that café would change me, and that meeting a girl who I thought would be nothing more than a travel buddy would become the sister I never had.
Charlotte was a year older than me, had great style, loved the outdoors, played hockey and tree planted over the summer. I was a year ahead in school with almost no confidence in myself. I wore sweats everywhere, hated the outdoors, hadn’t played a sport since high school PE, and worked in bars over the Summer. It felt as though we were completely different. We talked over coffee that afternoon about attending university abroad and traveling but couldn’t find much in common. I left that café thinking that although she was one of the coolest people I had met, we probably weren’t going to get along.
We saw each other again two months later during our move-in day abroad where we realized we were the only two Canadians in the program. We talked that night and soon realized how much we did have in common, not in terms of lives but in being friends. We both had the same sense of humor (that no one else found funny), we were extremely sarcastic, cared for others a little too much sometimes, were very protective of each other and when we talked about anything it seemed like we always understood each other.
From that day on, we became inseparable.
My friendship with Charlotte is one of the best things that could’ve happened to me. It taught me just how fulfilling it truly is to have a woman in your life who would never judge, betray, or harm you. We would
stay up all night talking about the boys who have hurt us and who have never seen us for who we are, all while we laugh and find comfort in knowing that in a few months these boys will fade into our pasts while our friendship remains a constant.
We were never jealous of each other and always had one another’s backs (even if we knew we were in the wrong). She is the first female friendship that felt completely meant to be – a true sister.
After my birthday at the end of April, we will both be graduating. I will be attending law school abroad and she will be working and traveling for a year. I met my sister a year and a half ago and now I don’t know the next time I will get to see her again. Although it is quite scary thinking about the distance that will soon be between us, it is also important to have someone who came into your life when you needed them the most.
Charlotte doesn’t know this article is being published about her, but I hope that when she does read this, she not only understands why she is my Women of the Year on International Women’s Day, but the woman I hope to become even half of one day.
And I hope that one day my daughter will meet her very own ‘Charlotte’ as it is one of the most beautiful things life can offer.