My Bridesmaid: Tracy

One of the first friends I asked to be a bridesmaid was my first college roommate -- Tracy Borczyk.

Tracy

I'll never forget the day I got the letter from the College of Charleston stating who I was living with and where. I couldn't figure out how to pronounce her last name nor did I know where in the world Palos Hill, Illinois was. I remember talking to Tracy's mom first because when I called, Tracy was at work. (I think she was a lifeguard).

Move in day came and Tracy and her parents were already there when my family and I arrived. We pretty much hit it off and became pretty close. We didn't have any classes together.. and we had completely different majors.. but we hung out with some girls in our dorm as well as some in another.

I think Tracy thought I was crazy as I only spent the my very first weekend in the Holy City there. Every weekend for the rest of the year I would go home to Columbia. I did drag her up with me once and we had a pretty good time.

Tracy joined Phi Mu during our freshman year and I remember her trying to get me to join but I kept telling her "Sororities aren't my thing. Why pay for friends?" (Shame on me since I joined Gamma Phi Beta a year later.) But I completely supported her chapter and went to some of their events and the house for dinner sometimes.

My favorite Tracy moment was the last night we lived in the dorms together. She knows this story, so I won't tell it to save embarrassment. But taking her to the airport the next day to fly home was truly hard as I was saying good bye to one of my closest friends.

I ended up transferring from CofC to USC after my freshman year, but Tracy and I did keep in contact and I got the chance to visit before Christmas during our sophomore year.

Even though we didn't see each other again until last summer, we have a bond that no one could ever replace. We started our "grown up" lives together, starting college and living on our own. Our late night trips to Sonic or jamming to music in the room, we had a blast.

I'm so thankful Tracy will be part of our special day. And even though we are both living in the same city (once again), we still don't get to see each other as often as we like, it doesn't matter. That's because our bond is strong and we'll be friends for life.