rose.

rose is my alter ego.  do you have one too?

well, i guess she's more like the absolute essence of me.

i love that word, essence.

we once did a project in mrs. rose's seventh grade english class {the fact that it was mrs. rose - a detail i'm just now realizing - really makes this story come full circle} in which we were instructed to create a shield out of poster board. the outside represented the image of us as a person, and it opened up to an inside filled with things that symbolized our essence. the image and the essence project.

i'll never forget that one.

it's one of the lucky crafts that is hidden deep in an armoire at home sweet home. one of those that's too hard to part with.

i'll never forget mrs. rose either. she was the kind that made you think outside the box. perfectly wacky and free-spirited gaining her the utmost respect and leaving us twelve year olds with a hunger for reading and an urge to write.

i think we all have an image and an essence. a façade we are sometimes forced to put forth, and a true being that only our closest of close see. it's the best feeling...not having to try, isn't it? to have no filter and just laugh.

surround yourself with the ones that make you laugh. i love my closest of close and i'm oh-so-grateful for them.

this darling bunch took me to brunch... at rose's, no less!

thank you from the bottom of my heart. my life is so much sweeter with you in it.