Postcard Pen Pal NEW ADDRESS: 2331 Murphy Lane, Winston-Salem, NC 27104: the presidio: andrew piper

Every contributor to this blog has received their own little bio/introduction upon their first appearance. I have been surprised in the past by those who have sent postcards in, so its been fun to write about people I've known and have loved so much- spanning middle school and then to past summer staffers from Rockbridge. I have to admit that I was going to post this without an introduction, because I know that if you have known me in the past four years, you have known who Tex is. Where do you start with a friendship filled with pinkie swear promises kept, photographs captured, letters/postcards sent, iChat conversations shared, and journeys away and back? However, everyone gets one. This is the short and sweet of a very long story:

For nostalgia I will say it began at Seth and Julie's Wedding in 2006, while seated next to each other at the reception we talked for hours. That conversation led to the summer of 2007 when Tex was an intern, I, the retail manager at Rockbridge. My office was right outside of the Intern Housing, and he would frequent it on his way up to the kitchen. That is where our friendship truly started. As many of you know, that same summer I left my job with Young Life to pursue the world, photography, Jesus, myself, the truth, the healing, and the adventure. I had no idea how the friendship cultivated in my office at camp, would shape the way I viewed all of those things and more. Tex was the most reliable ride to/from the airport (regardless of the hour), the best person to call in an emotional panic from an Island in Thailand (or in Paris with a lost passport!), or someone to sit with over iChat to talk through lessons learned, sights seen, and things felt. More then an airport shuttle, our friendship was my home base in every last zip code, time zone, and continent I happened reside (and most essentially a grounding force when I returned to Lexington to live after the initial big adventure). So it goes without saying, that because he made sure to be in touch and intentional in our friendship, I never forgot where home was, and he has in turn "traveled" the world.

Last week he went to San Francisco. I love.love.love. that city. I have talked about it for years, and I have told him forever it needed to be one of our adventures. Thankfully, he seized the opportunity to go. I sent a list of things to make sure he saw and tasted everything I loved. (There is a Walt Disney Family Museum that was closed when I was there last summer, which is why his message begins with "Disney!") When talking to him last week, he sounded exactly as I had imagined/hoped he would. He had found the same ease, the same quiet, the same stillness. To be present with people- but mostly just to be before himself and the Lord. I was explaining how to get to this one park that I absolutely love, and I had to laugh when he said that he had found it the day prior, and had already spent some quality time there.

Through all the stops and starts, the mountain tops and valleys; I am thankful that in him I have had someone who has always encouraged me to jump and leap- to be bold and vulnerable in the pursuit of growth, change, healing, and of course most of all Jesus- regardless of how far from home that may send me. I can honestly and humbly say, that I would not be the same without his perspective, wisdom, and his patience when asking a question and waiting for the real, honest, and fought for answer.

T. Oh, the places we've been. You always sent me out into the world hoping/believing/trusting that I'd come home closer to something real, and I thank you for that. Thanks for a postcard from one of my favorite places on earth (next to Disney World and Greece, of course). You were thought of and prayed for so often, and yes, I knew you'd love it. There is not a place I've gone that you've not journeyed through with me or have not received a post card from, and I'm sure that in many ways, that will be true for a lifetime. (do I get a gold star for writing the shortest version of a very long beloved story? The long version will be in the book one day. haha!)