Friendship

"Life's truest happiness is found in friendships we make along the way."

~Anonymous

Keith often laughs that I know someone everywhere we go--

eating dinner at restaurants, walking down the streets of Chicago,  or even laying out in a lawn chair in St. Lucia.  

(Secret confession: I want to make friends with as many people as possible before I die!)

But have you ever thought of how your friendships began?

For me, I think it's a little bit of coincidence, a lot of luck, and 

all of the pieces of the puzzle fitting perfectly at the right time.

One of the friendships I have often thought about is our friendship with our honeymoon BFFs, Amy and Greg Holtz.

Before I tell you about our fantastic friendship with this adorable couple,

 let's rewind to see how this story came together.

Keith and I became engaged April 4, 2009 (4/4/09--I love double numbers!). 

Early in the planning process, we chose Hawaii as our honeymoon destination.

It was beautiful, tropical, and a honeymooner's dream...I mean, seriously, 

what's not to love about Hawaii?!?!

When we met with our travel agent, Jerry Katz, he planned out an incredible 7 day vacation to several of the Hawaiian islands.  I remember hearing, "You will stay on this island for 3 days, then hop on a plane to this island for 2 days, then hop on a plane to this island for 2 days."

My head was spinning and all I could think about was wanting to relax with the man of my dreams with a refreshing drink in my hand.  I didn't want to worry about alarm clocks and flight times.

Jerry must have seen the look on my face that the trip he had planned was not up to my standards. Feeling a little defeated, Keith and I explained our dilemma, "We've always dreamed of going to Hawaii, but maybe our honeymoon isn't the right time."

Jerry then showed us catalogs for St. Lucia--"The Caribbean's Hawaii."

Now this is what we're talking about!

All you can eat and drink, beautiful beaches, and it was cheaper than Hawaii so we could stay 10 days in St. Lucia instead of the 7 in Hawaii.

We would leave the Monday after our wedding and return the following Wednesday.

Honeymoon booked: check!

A few months later, Jerry calls and tells me that our trip will be $1,000 cheaper if Keith and I leave on Tuesday instead of Monday.  We would still be gone 10 days, it would just be pushed back a day.  This was a no brainer! Saving $1,000--I think yes!

Fast forward past the marvelous months of planning, 

past the perfect wedding ceremony and reception,  

and arrive at the Tuesday we leave for the honeymoon.

We flew out of Dayton airport and landed in Atlanta to catch our connecting flight to St. Lucia.

Little did we know, on this flight from Atlanta to St. Lucia were two people who could become life-long friends.

Getting off the plane in St. Lucia, I snapped this picture of the Hewanorra Airport.

I didn't even know it yet, but the man in the blue striped shirt is Greg, and the lady in the pink dress is Amy.

From the airport, our suitcases were loaded up into a van and we were on our way to 

The Sandals Regency.

There were about 3 other couples in the van, so me (being the social butterfly that I am)

asked everyone where they were from.

There was a couple from Dayton, Ohio (yay! another Ohio couple!), and an older couple (I forget where they were from...oops!).

I will never forget when Amy and Greg introduced themselves and said they were from Pittsburgh and Keith bursts out, "Boooo!"  

I thought, "Oh no Keith! Shushhhh! We don't want to make enemies on our trip!!!"

Fortunately, Amy and Greg are as hard core Pittsburgh fans as we are Cincinnati fans,

so it was fun banter back and forth. :)

An hour later we arrived at the hotel, registered, and piled into a shuttle to take us to our 

home away from home.

Amy and Greg were in our van, along with some other vacationers waiting to be taken to their rooms.  We began driving and one of the vacationers noticed that we are heading away from the regular rooms and heading towards the villas.  He made a comment, "Oh we're going to see where the rich people live."  I sat up in my seat and was so excited to see the villas as I thought this was surely to be my only time on the trip to see them.

We get to the top of the hill, the driver parks, goes to the back of the van, 

and starts pulling luggage out of the back. 

 "714," he calls. Keith and I sit and wait for people to get out of the van.

"714," he calls again.  I look down at our room paperwork.

714? I whisper to Keith, "Keith, that's us."

The look on Keith's face was priceless.  

We get out and take our luggage.  

We notice that Amy and Greg were out of the van as well getting their luggage.

We all look at each other and head to our Villas. 

(Amy and Greg to the top room, Keith and I to the bottom room).

Later that evening, Amy and Greg were heading to dinner at the same time Keith and I were.

We quickly talked about how neither of us had planned to stay in the Villas and somehow we all must have been upgraded. Perfect timing? Right place at the right time? 

Who knows, and who cares! The place was amazing!

We didn't see much of Amy and Greg the first few days of our trip, but later on in the week we started hanging out.  Some of our funniest memories are dancing on the bar at Herbies, Rico Suave dressed all in white then jumping in the pool naked with some ladies, being waitresses at Cricketer's (where were the employees?) and almost dying in the ocean.

When it was time to leave, we were all very sad.  However, we were excited to hear that we were on the same flight back to Atlanta.  In fact, Amy and Greg were seated a few rows behind us on the plane, but we had seats open in front of us, so they moved up so that we could all talk on the plane.

As we were saying our good-byes, we all promised to be friends forever on facebook and keep in touch. We talked about how Keith and I would visit Pittsburgh and Amy and Greg could visit Cincinnati.

Whenever you leave though, you have to wonder: 

Will we keep in touch?  Will we ever see each other again?

Well, I am happy to report that we did! 

Keith and I just returned from our first (of many!) visits to Pittsburgh to visit Amy, Greg, and the newest addition of the Holtz family Victoria.

Pictures and posts coming soon!

When I think back on it, it's amazing to see the journey that made us friends.

Keith and I wanting Hawaii first, then choosing St. Lucia, leaving on Tuesday instead of Monday, being upgraded to the same Villa as Greg and Amy--

all of these coincidences, the luck, and 

all of the pieces of the puzzle fitting perfectly at the right time 

have created a friendship that may last a lifetime.