Abigail: Thirty People in 30 Days

Abigail.
She's beautiful. And I can say that in the most basic of ways. If you're a man, you want to be with her, if you're a woman, you want to look like her. She carries herself with confidence. She's the kind of beautiful that looks adorable even during a hike, the kind of beautiful that as her friend you say... REALLY!? And the kind of beautiful that if you're not her friend, if you don't know her story, you're jealous of. (Easy to understand.)

But the problem with her beauty is, if you stop there, and too many people have, you miss the bigger picture.
If you stop at the fact that she's twenty and stunning, you miss the things I've learned from her in the 8+ years that I've called her my friend.

Abby has always been a trend setter. She moved out of her Dad's house her second year of college and lives in Pittsburgh now and attends classes. She wants to be a doctor, or a nurse, or something else entirely? (whatever it is, she'll be great). She goes grocery shopping at this kinda creepy store over by the water, and drinks wine in her apartment late at night. Abby visits markets on Saturday afternoons and goes to music festivals. She doesn't make excuses, she is her own person, she lives without regret. She has big dreams, big plans, and she is going somewhere.

So, you're probably thinking after all of this that Abby has taught me that I want to live in the city, or live a little more free, but on the contrary. Abby has taught me that I am as grounded as they come. I want a house, with a white picket fence, in the middle of the country somewhere. Writing some book and volunteering at a women's shelter and baking cookies every afternoon. It is almost as if Abby is sowing my independent oats for me. The stories she tells, the memories she is making, they sound wonderful and exciting, and although I tried the city for a month and have visited her, I have learned that it's not me.

This is what I think she taught me most though, that people are more than they seem. People are the bits and pieces that others have left with them, the hurts they have been dealt, they blows that landed on them, the memories and scents and dreams that will never leave... you person you're talking to right now, the person you're about to send that email to, the cashier you're about to see at the store, they are more than they seem.

So while she is out making a name for herself and conquering the world, maybe I'll be the friend in her corner in the middle of some country town somewhere. Reading her blog and hearing her stories and cheering for her. Maybe that's what I can write my book about? All the things she taught me...