Shocking: I'm a Liberal.

If we are friends in real life, you may or may not know this about me. If we are friends on Facebook, the fact that I am a Liberal is IN YOUR FACE.

I am constantly posting articles, pictures, and opinions about same sex marriage (pro), the right to choose to have an abortion (pro), the death penalty (anti), slut-shaming (anti), racism (anti), and many other hippie, bleeding heart ideals.

I am aware that as a white, heterosexual female who has been lucky enough to have never had an unwanted pregnancy (or one that threatens my life), the above does not affect me much. So why am I so passionate about my beliefs?

Because they happen to people every day. Sometimes to people I know. And I have something called empathy.

Who am I to say that because I happen to be attracted to males, I can get married, but my best friend can't? Or because my pregnancies were wanted and uneventful, I should be able to make the choice for someone else?

I can't.

No one else can.

I can understand when people oppose my beliefs. That's your opinion. I don't like it, I won't debate it (because frankly, I don't have the time), but you can believe it if you want to.

But.

This is what I believe.

If you don't like it, don't look at it.

Huh, in fact, it's similar to something I've seen before.

friends.

Back in the year 2000 I was a young, shy first-year student at a small women's college near Atlanta. I was living in a big city, 3 hours from home, and only knew one other person at this little college. I seriously contemplated transferring to UGA (the University of Georgia, for the uninformed), where my best friend since kindergarten was studying.

Then one evening, while working on a paper in the dorm computer lab (yeah that's right, young folks, I didn't have my own computer...and we also had to work on the big computers! No laptops for us yet!), a fellow student, Morgan, struck up a conversation with me. I don't remember what we talked about, but she invited me to eat lunch with her and some other women the next day.

Through that small gesture, I met some of the most fantastic women I have ever had the pleasure of interacting with.  And almost 13 years later, we are all still friends.

Last weekend some of us met up in Wilmington, NC to watch Alana, one of my best friends, get married.

Not only was it a weekend to celebrate the love between two people, it was a weekend to celebrate the love among us all.

Many of us don't live in the Atlanta area anymore. I'm in San Antonio. One is in DC, one in NYC, and one in Philly. Three do live in the metro ATL area, while another lives near Athens.

But even though we may not have seen each other recently, we fell back into our old comfortable relationship.  One with a lot of laughter, a lot of wine, a little inappropriateness, but overall, a lot of love.

We have added husbands and babies to the mix (though mine weren't with me- kid-free weekend, whoo hoo!) But that just enhances the group.

The weekend was everything I thought it could be. Thank you, Morgan, for making a shy girl from a small town feel right at home, and for introducing me to the women that I am honored to call friends. I love you all, and I cannot wait until our 10 year reunion in April!

And now, many, many pictures.