Bloom.

So I'm back home for a bit, like home home, in good ol Bristol.  And yesterday I got to see some friends who have been there for me forever. It's funny how sometimes you lose touch but end up picking right back up where you left off. And how it feels so good to be around people who have known you basically your whole life. Who have been a part of you growing up, who grew up alongside you...

Now, I always joke that our group of friends is the one that is going to get the heck out of Bristol and make something of ourselves.  And we are. Some of us are moving on to graduate degrees, while others are out there trying to pursue lifelong dreams. But we always have home to come back to, and it feels good to know that I can pick up the phone and call any one of them, even years from now, and talk like there is neither time nor space between us. 

I cried a little today reading this sweet sweet note one of these friends, Franny, gave me yesterday. And among the many words was the mention of our kindergarten graduation "motto"... "bloom where you're planted."  She likes to think of it not in a "stay put where are are planted" kind of way, but more in a "plant your roots firmly and then bloom so big and beautifully, stretching those petals and leaves as far as you can while soaking up all that delicious sun" kind of way. And so do I. Mmmm and that second choice just sounds amazing to me.  There is just so much sun for us to soak up, and just so much of the world for us to explore. 

But it all starts with our roots, and without these we cannot grow tall or beautiful. We must keep them nourished and planted on solid ground. Taking good care of these precious lifelong relationships that at so dear to us, realizing how much they contribute to who we are today and the value of their steady presence. Keeping them in mind as we become the next generation of people who will change the world. (I can hear it now... "wait??? They grew up in Bristol, TOO??!!?") haha...

Can you believe it's been five years since we graduated high school??I don't even want to count the years since that kindergarten graduation day. We have all grown so much and bloomed so big.  Geez, I cannot wait to see what this next chapter holds for all of us.  Hold on tight y'all and grip those roots firmly because we are here to bring beauty and life and sunshine to this tired and sometimes gloomy world. LET'S DO THIS!

Liv