The Celebratory Summer

*This was supposed to be published on Aug 11--it's a couple of days late getting up there!*

Today is the first day of the rest of all of our lives. I suppose every day is like that, but for my good friend LP I think that statement is really true.

LP and GC are marrying today--the same way I felt with my sister before her wedding is how I feel today-there is nothing more thrilling than seeing someone you love find extreme and true happiness with another, and being present and able to help them celebrate. Weddings are these great events--they are multidimensional because the day is truly about the 2 people who are getting married, but equally as much a celebration joined by the people who traveled down the path at so many different stages of life to get them here.

LP and I have been friends since working in the Good Senator's office--a moment after college, during 9/11 when L, J, R and I felt like we were the princesses of the marble halls of Russell and Dirksen. I think every young staffer feels like that--we were no anomoly--an it's funny to experience the metamorphisis from feeling heady and important (ha--22 years old--what a great and delusional age) to gaining the understanding that the work we were doing is important, but we are simply one of many many many people helping to make a machine run.

We were the fun ones in the office. We bonded at cocktail receptions that the Senator and his senior staff were invited to but passed their invitations down to us. It was comical--all of these lobbying groups, companies etc would provide lavish spreads--booze as far as you could see, mounds of cheese, h'ors doerves and when you looked around it was all junior staff coming to partake in the bounty. I'm not going to lie. It was hard living in DC on $26,000 a year. So we took advantage anytime free food and drink was offered. I used to say that it should be illegal to give away free alcohol to anyone who made less than $35k/year as it seemed to foster what some might call "excessive drinking".

As naive (but fun!) 22 year olds, L, R and I made highly intelligent decisions. The one we still laugh about (frequently) is when hatched the brilliant plan to document our escapades as young, single, bargoing DC girls in one of the hill online rags, HillZoo. We even got the committee's press person to ok it. We did not, however, cover our bases with the senior staff in the personal office. A decision that would come back to haunt all of us....

The posts were hilarious--witty, racy, and totally inappropriate. The editor of HillZoo loved us--probably because we thought it completely fine to use taglines such as this highly memorable one: "Brass Monkey: A bar where you start the night pounding shots and end it pounding a random stranger". (Mom, I know, you should feel proud).

We did this for months and months. When it took us more than three weeks to give them a new column, people would actually complain. L was famous for smacking people's asses after a few cocktails and having it end up in that week's column much to her chagrin and pleas of more editing. But it was harmless fun..until I left the Senate and the news leaked out...

I left to save the world (Peace Corps, duh) and we all decided to hang up our HillZoo shoes upon my departure. For months the editor wanted to publish our identities or who we worked for. We refused to let him (deep down we all knew that this would probably reflect poorly if, say, the Senator discovered his three young staffers penning this kind of article). When I left and we pulled the plug, the editor pleaded to keep it going between R and L, they said no. We told him thanks, but it was time to move on. I left for Vermont a few days later to get ready for my next big adventure and left L and R and J in DC...

Then the email arrives. "DLS: Chief of Staff wants to talk to you. Oh, and you might want to check HillZoo's comings and goings section". Oh. Shit. Our agreement with editor was that he would never reveal our identities--the most people new of us were our first names and that we worked for a senator. What we did not ban, or not overtly anyway, was the revelation of identity after we had all finished. That's right, front and center on the first page of HillZoo was an entire bio about me leaving, who I worked for, where I was going, and the column we all used to write. And L and R were implicated just as much. Oops.

I got off the easiest--I had already left the office. L and R had to sit face to face with Chief of Staff and Scary C and get their little life lessons. I sent an angry and forceful email to editor demanding he take the latest post down. Life went on.

J, L, R and I reminisce a lot about that year. They all stayed on for various amounts of time (J is still there, and is super important now, but this time for real). But we've all grown up a lot too in the past 6 years--it's a joy to think L is getting married today, and R will be in less than a year. And I have no doubt that our naive beginnings are being replicated by many more heady, ambitious and carefree 22 year olds. But I do believe that we had and continue to have more fun than any of them.

Congratulations LP and GC--you two are perfect for each other and I cannot wait to celebrate this amazing day with the two of you.