By Susan Wordal
I spent my college years in a sorority house. I really never questioned this decision. My Mom, whom I love dearly, had spent her years at Montana State University (before it became University of Montana) in a sorority house after attending an all-female college in the mid-west for a year. It’s where she met many life-long friends and how she met my Dad. All in all, I’d say it was a good choice for her and so, when she urged me to go through RUSH (what they called recruitment back in the day), I trusted she knew what she was doing and what she was urging me to do and so, I went through RUSH.
There I was with many other incoming Freshman and some “upper-class” females going from one house to the next meeting people, learning a little about the various houses on campus, and running into some old friends. In particular, I ran into a whole raft of women I knew from high school and summer stock theater. It was like old-home week. On the first day, as I left the house I would later join, I found myself hugging every person like a gauntlet I had to travel just to leave. [Anyone who knows me knows I’m a rather “hug-y” person.] Then, there was a woman I didn’t know other than from that first meeting. But, we looked at each other and sort of shrugged and kind of thought “what the hey” and hugged each other. It was the last one on my way out the door (and I was the last of that group), but it was the one that rather clinched it for me. What I didn’t know was that after the door was closed, the whole house kind of cheered. They were sure of at least one “Rushee” as we were called then. A week later, I joined Alpha Omicron Pi and never looked back.
Today, I still keep in touch with these wonderful Sisters. Yes, they are sisters in all but birth. We are there for each other. We light a candle when they need it. We say prayers when those are needed. We shed tears when those are called for in a given moment. Some of the tears are tears of joy, others are tears of grief or commiseration. Whatever the moment demands, we answer as best we can from where we are. You don’t mess with a Sister without Karma taking a hand.
One of my Sisters has a habit of posting things she finds on the internet. “For Someone in My World Today” she says. These can be uplifting quotes, reality checks, amazing photos, etc. One never knows, but the thought is there: if you need a little something, here you go.
So, one of the quotes she put up the other day was:
Just as one candle lights another and can light thousands of other candles, so one heart illuminates another heart and can illuminate thousands of other hearts.
Leo Tolstoy
Russian author, intellectual and social critic
(1828-1910)
Another was:
There is so much more to this one incredible life than the sum total of our heartbreak.
Lysa Terkeurst
And everyone can relate to this on occasion. (no idea who said it, but it sounds familiar…
I’m still tired from yesterday’s tired.
Today isn’t looking so good
and I’ve already used up tomorrow’s tired.
I’m grateful for these bonds of friendship and Sisterhood. I know my Mom was grateful for hers and I saw them work over all the years of growing up and even after. I’m grateful for those quotes and photos “For Someone in My World”. I’m grateful for the fact that we can be inspired to be better by seeing something, whether it’s a quote or a picture or a comic strip, and having that one thing brighten our day, if just for a minute.
So, if you know someone who is in need of a little inspiration, or a little commiseration, or a little extra joy, don’t hesitate. Send it out into the universe.
A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions.
Amelia Earhart
Who knew?!?!
BTW: If you wanna meet up and just scream for a minute…we can do that, and then get food after.