In the Fall of 2008, those were just four words to me. They grew with significance over the next year and a half as I began to walk a new path, and found a new family. My time I spent with my new sisters was most of the best moments of the last three years of my college career. But, sad to say, even when I graduated those for words were basically still just words to me. Yes, they mean more to me then than they had when I signed my bid card a year earlier. But they never meant so much to me as they did this weekend.
I don't know if it was being back in a house where I only knew 1/4 of the girls, or if it was because I was the only one from my graduating class there. Maybe it was the pure joy on the older sisters faces when they saw me, or the way the younger ones looked at me like I was a special alum; someone to look up to. Maybe it was during the transition between days; when they needed direction and wanted to help, and they came and asked what they could do. Maybe it was the pure tears and love I saw in each of their faces as I looked around during the Preference Ceremony. But as we sang those four words, I found myself dropping out. It's hard to sing when crying.
I wasn't crying because I was supposed to, or because I knew every single girl in that room by name and personality. I was crying because I didn't. Because three years ago, I was that girl sitting in the chair, watching a group of amazing older women invite me into their life and sisterhood. I was crying because there were only 13 other girls in that room with me that were there for that night three years ago. And I was crying because the girls lined up around the room were not a chapter I recognized.
This women in the room with me were strong women. They had worked hard to transform an ordinary, ill-planned house into a beautiful home, with a facelift each night. They had worked together to overcome confusion, quietly and with respect. These were girls who didn't need to scream to get the group quiet, didn't need to use a chant or biting comments. They simply put a crescent into the air, and the voices disappeared. And when it was time to have fun, they slid off the heels, and did a choreographed two-step in the foyer, and a conga line through the formal room. They greeted each other with a smile, and I could see the bond they had with each other. And I was proud beyond words.
Towards the end of Preference Day, I stopped sitting in on the ceremonies. It wasn't my place to bawl each party; I was just that old person in the corner most times. In the next to last party I found myself in the hallway when the slideshow started, and I was drawn to this picture as the same song played that I had heard at my first night being introduced to Gamma Phi Beta.
Talk about coming home! I'll admit, there have been multiple times I have been worried sick about what would come to my beloved chapter that so many of us worked hard to keep going. Even so much to be worried that I may not be able to come back to it someday. It seemed that every time something good happened, it was followed by three blows to knock us back. After spending a weekend with the ladies I did, I'm incredibly happy to say that I left Springfield without a doubt in my mind about these girls.
They love each other and Gamma Phi Beta and they worked hard to make this weekend a good one. We've learned from the many mistakes the past few years, and we're still going--stronger than ever! This weekend I'm proud of the girls of Delta Nu for truly showing me what four little words can mean...
