No One's Gonna Rain On Our Parade

I woke up Friday morning and put on a black t-shirt with a big blue neon lowercase letter "a" on the front of it. On the back, the shirt read "High Wattage" and had a light bulb drawn beneath that.  My friends and I had spent the week making this shirt and fifty-seven other similar ones, all with different neon letters on the front, and different nick names on the back.  They were made for our pep rally line up, and together, 58 people strong, we spelled out "Taylor Elmore, you will always be in the senior's hearts." My class agreed to spell this out to honor our late classmate.  It made those of us who knew him feel that in someway he was with us for that first pep rally of senior year. This is one of the many reasons I love my class.

   We screamed and jumped around like children who had consumed far too much sugar. I am quite confident that one of the things I am going to miss most about West Florence is dancing to the traditional band songs.  They become a part of you, and never fail to get us fired up. How they managed to get us back to class amazes me.

   That night my classmates and I headed out to the stadium to tail gate.  It had been raining all afternoon, and we were really hoping it would stop. The girls all had on button-ups and ties, as is tradition for the West Florence seniors at the first football game of the season. We were gathered around, painting the guys chests, (they were going to spell out "One Knight Stand;" our mascot is the Knights) and it continued to rain.  Not only did it continue to rain, it began to pour.  

   We were soaked down to the skin.  But, none of us left.  We went into the game, and claimed the student section as always.  We danced and cheered and prayed for our Knights. We were playing our rivals, the South Florence Bruins, whom we had beaten every year for the past eight years.  This year broke that tradition.  The Bruins beat us 47-7.  So there we were, the boys with paint running all over them, the girls in neck ties and button ups, soaked all the way through, losing miserably to our rivals for the first time in eight years, we all claimed to be miserable, yet, we were all having a blast.  It is a memory I know we will all keep with us for years.

    After the game, several of us went to Waffle House.  I was talking to one of the guys who had painted up for the game, and he said, "Ya know, I hope every game is like that one." I replied "You mean us being annihilated while soaking wet?" He laughed a little and said, "No, I mean I hope we get that crazy and have that much fun at all of the games."  If my school has one thing, it's spirit.  Even though we were losing, we had at least twice as many fans as South Florence.  That is one of the main reasons I love my Knights, and I love my class. Seniors 2010, the perfect ten, that is.

               

If It's Any Indication...

I do not even know where to begin.  The first week a senior year was definitely a success.  From catching up with friends, to late lunches after early dismissal, everything just seems to be falling into place.  As cliche' as it sounds, my class feels like a family to me this year.  

We had a meeting at Groucho's Wednesday to discuss the t-shirt line for the pep rally.  Now, I cannot say what we are spelling out. We agreed to keep it a surprise. However, I will say that I am extremely excited about it. I really love my class right now. 

Today we all went to Janie's to paint shirts for the pep rally. We spent hours on them, but we are almost done now.  Tonight we went to hear our friend Drake play at Aroma Underground Coffee Shop. Then we all just hung out at Janie's and chatted like the old friends we are.  

If this weekend was any indication of how this year is going to go, then I'm definitely on board.

Day One.

First day of senior year=Fabulous.  I love being a senior. It is really neat to be the oldest, and getting out at two feels wonderful.  

Adele was at my house at eight, and we went to pick up Ben and Charlotte.  I pulled into the parking lot, and parked in my spot which is incredibly close to the building.  I got out and took pictures with my friends, and then we walked over to chat with some of our other classmates.  The day flew by, and I have great people in all of my classes.  

My class is already planning pep rally shirts for next Friday's game against our rival school.  Now, I'm not going to say what we are planning, but I can say that they will be the coolest pep rally shirts my class has ever done, and possibly the coolest ones any class has ever done.  This year is going to be the best; and I can hardly wait to see what all happens.

Movie Reviews & Summer's End.

Whoever you are, you need to go see The Time Traveler's Wife.  It was a phenomenal picture.  Rachel McAdams is brilliant and beautiful, and Eric Bana isn't too bad either. (Understatement, his role of Henry may be the most attractive character I've ever encountered, minus the constant disappearances.)  This film makes you laugh, brings tears, makes you want to fall in love, holds your attention, keeps you thinking, and shows the importance of cherishing your time with people.  I went to see it because some friends suggested it, and it blew me away. Time Traveler's Wife definitely surpasses expectations, and then some.

(As a side note, I have decided that any current pop culture is completely relevant to 2010's senior year; including movies, TV, songs, concerts, trivia, news, etc.)

On a less exciting (while at the same time extremely exciting) note, tomorrow is the first day of school.  Our last first day, well at least of high school.  It is both ordinary and unique; familiar, and strange.  Hold on tight, ready or not, we're about to start the year we've waiting for and our parents have been dreading since kindergarten. 

In order for tomorrow to go as smoothly as possible, I am going relax on this, my last day of summer.  As soon as I finish this and press the orange "PUBLISH POST" button, I am going to take a nap, go to the gym, and then go sit with my beloved LK at her church's annual Youth vs. Adults softball game.  It's a wonderful life. =)

Three.

I currently want to see three movies:

500 Days of Summer

The Ugly Truth

The Time Travelers Wife

Most of my friends have already seen The Ugly Truth, and my sister cannot get into an R rated movie. No one else seems to have heard of 500 Days of Summer.  I'm seeing The Time Traveler's Wife with some of my girlfriends tomorrow. I'll have to work the other two in sometime. 

Dinner & A Scavenger Hunt

Today was all planned out.  Lauren, Caroline, Lindsay, and I were going to drive down to Garden City for one las girls day before we officially start senior year.  We planned this about a week ago.  Unfortunately, today was rather cloudy, rainy, and stormy, so we had to change our plans.  Instead, we went to lunch at Groucho's, watched 17 again, and did what my friends do best: bake.  Today we baked cookies, and we bought cream cheese icing (in a can) and sprinkles to decorate. It was delicious. My baby sister Anna (age 16, yes that is only one year younger than me), got her wisdom teeth out this morning, so we tried to stay quiet for her. She feels awful.

Tonight I participated in a scavenger hunt to welcome my dear friend Kristen Lawson's new friend Cory Wasson to town, at least for a few hours.  My involvement in the scavenger hunt was waiting at West Florence with signs saying "Welcome" and "Go Wildcats," and an ipod set to a High School Musical song.  Sound crazy? Well, it's Kristen.  Cory came into town tonight to ride to Lee University in Tennessee with Kristen.  This sort of breaks my heart.  Kristen is someone that I can confide in whatever the situation.  We are incredibly similar.  I really hate that she is leaving for college.  

Before helping Kristen with her scavenger hunt, I went to dinner with Nes, Adele, Dad, Caroline, and Nes & Adele's parents, to celebrate Nes leaving for Clemson tomorrow.  This also really upsets me.  The Arnettes are very close family friends of ours.  Adele is transferring to my school, so I will be seeing her even more this year, but I will be seeing Nes next to none.  That is going to be really strange, because I am used to both of them crashing at our house on the weekends.

The final girls day of the summer, saying goodbye to Kristen, and celebrating Nes going off to college all reminds me that my last year in Florence is approaching.  It is exciting and scary.  And annoying.  I really do not want to start school just yet.

2010.

I noticed that I actually do have a reader or two; that always make me feel good. I went back actually read some comments from months ago that I had never seen, and they really made me smile. Thanks y'all. =)

If you are a reader of mine, maybe you noticed the new blog description "The Senior Year Chronicles." I am going to be blogging about the events of the Senior Year of the Class of 2010. Not exclusively my own high school's graduating class, but mostly us, considering that is what I know the most about. This may include my own personal life of college apps, youth trips, and Apples to Apples games, or it may include any major events in the news that happen this school year. It could be about my high school's football team (Go Knights!), or a discussion one of my classes had. Anything that I learn this year whether it be academic or otherwise may be woven in. Basically, everything that happens that effects my class's senior year in any way, shape, or form is fair game. If I do write an entry that is primarily concerning my personal experiences, I will try to tie in how I have learned from it, in order to make it relevant to "moving on" which will probably be the predominant theme of this blog over the next few months, though it may just be me needing to vent, which admitedly is what this online journal has been many times. Basically this new theme changes nothing, however, it will give me slightly more of an incintive to write. So here it goes, the story of The Class of 2010's senior year, narrated by one of it's members, so of course slightly focused on her. How narcisistic.

I promise I will attempt to focus on people and things other than myself. Ultimately, this blog should point to Christ, and how he is working throughout our senior year. Let's get started. =)

I blogged yesterday before making this decision about the tragedy that occured right on the brink of our senior year; We will always love you Taylor.

Today's story is not very long; it is simply to say that I have completed two college applications: Clemson & Wofford. I am basically finished with my Elon app as well. I just need to press submit. I have not even thought about tackling the common application yet, which unfortunately is mandatory to apply to Furman. But, considering that the school has not even started yet, I am definitely ahead of schedule.

Oh, and after watching "Julie & Julia" I have been inspired to learn to cook. So, every now and then I may throw in a random recipe if I like it, IF the cooking thing goes well.

J'ai taime!

Emmy =)

Finally.

I haven't blogged all summer. Wow.  This is partially because I have been gone a great deal, but partially because I have been lazy. I haven't had a whole lot to say.  Somehow, I don't think anyone has taken offense.

Now I do have something to say. I have put off writing about this for a while, but now I'm just going to dive into it.  I think it will be good for me to get this all out there. So here goes.

I spent the entire month of July at Camp Greystone.  It was a phenomenal experience.  I lived in the camp bubble where I was constantly reminded of Christ's love for me, and grew closer to God than I had in a while.  Nothing could go wrong.  Life was perfect.  I knew that I would go into a reality shock when I got home, but I never in my wildest dreams expected anything too severe. 

Boy was I wrong.  Two days after arriving home, I was getting ready for a friend's wedding with my family.  Two family friends, Nes and Adele Arnette, were just crashing at our house waiting to go to a movie as my family and I rushed about getting ready to leave.  Just as I was sitting down in my new steel grey dress to put on my heels, ready to walk out the door, Adele looked up from my MacBook where she was on Facebook and asked if I knew Taylor Elmore.  I said, "Yeah. He goes to West Florence and is in my grade. We have had a class together every semester except one.  He runs cross country and is really nice."  She looked back at me and said, "Well, he just died."

My jaw dropped and I went into a brief state of shock.  I just stared down at Nes and Adele.  I was utterly confused.  I really hate that I found out about this via facebook. Technology is so cold.  After about thirty seconds of confusion, I began to bawl.  I could not fathom what could possibly take my sweet, smart, classmate Taylor from us then, two days before senior registration.  I scrambled around for my phone and pressed number five on speed dial, one of my best friends Shannon Weill.  

I asked Shannon if it was true.  She cried on the other end of the line that it was true, and told me Taylor had been in a car accident earlier that day.  His new friend, who had become a very close friend very quickly so I'm told, Hali Roberson, had been with him in the car and was in Charleston in critical condition. (Hali has been recovering remarkably. Praise God.)  I sat down and just cried.  I did not go to the wedding. I hung with Nes and Adele all night, who have an uncanny ability to get my mind off of things. I called another close friend, Lindsay Miranda who was in Georgia with family, and told her what happened.  I hated the facebook statuses.  I wanted them to go away.  I know everyone meant well. But I could not look at them.  

I have never been through such a huge shock in just a few days.  I went from heaven on earth to a living hell in less than three days.  All I could think about was how much worse it was for Shannon and Beau who were so much closer to Taylor than I was, and I loved him a lot so that is saying something.  Not to mention his family.  I pray that God will keep his hands on Taylor's older brother Brian as he starts classes at Clemson this semester.  

Senior registration felt strangely empty to me.  There was so much that went unsaid.  I suppose we all just wanted to pretend everything was normal. We all new that Taylor's visitation was that night. We just did not mention it.  I have never seen that many of my classmates together without anyone cracking a smile.  I stayed at the visitation much longer than I normally would have in order to support Shannon, and pay my respects to the Elmore family, and to Taylor.  Seeing the body was strangely comforting.  As I saw him, I realized that he was not there.  It was not Taylor.  He certainly was not in the casket.  He is with God. 

The funeral was tragic.  I did not think I could cry anymore.  False.  I cried so much more.  Taylor, you will never be forgotten.  Your contagious smile, as your brother put it, will be in our hearts always.  I heard someone describe you as a quiet kid at first, with an undeniable wit.  That sounded pretty accurate.  You were always fun to discuss political issues with, because we always had the exact same opinion.  You made fun of me in Precal, and I made fun of you.  We compared grades in Coach Smith's class, even though I was taking U.S. History and you were taking European History.  I loved competing with you on grades in Mrs. Jordan and Mrs. Robbins' classes, and I love how we both just gave up competing in Precal because we were both so far from the top.  You were such a good, funny, sweet, smart, talented kid, and that has not been forgotten. 

I have no profound statement to make after going through all this.  All I have to say is that I have wrestled with understanding God's timing for the past year.  I have accepted that I never will understand it, but I still wrestle with it.  I am trying to trust that God's plan is so much bigger than I can fathom.  I am so thankful for God's love for us.  Because of his love, I know that you are in a wonderful place right now.  The only pain I should be feeling is for those of us here.  There is no pain to be felt for you, because you are in a place where there is no more pain.  To us, it seems so tragic that you were taken from this earth days before your senior year began, right on the brink of making college plans and filling out applications. For you, the timing is irrelevant.  You are with God, and while I am sure you miss us, you are somehow not saddened by the separation.  I cannot understand that either, but I do not have to, nor do I deserve to.  We often think we deserve explanations, and we really don't deserve anything, let alone the ultimate gift the Father has given us of His Son.  Why should I deserve an explanation, when I have been given this amazing gift of the knowledge that though you are not with me, you are in no pain, and never will be again? Is that not a big enough gift in and of itself?

We love you, Taylor Elmore.  I am not going to say to rest in peace, because you are not resting.  You are worshiping God in some way or another.  Probably running.  That's what you did best, so I am sure you are now doing it for His glory. So keep running the race Taylor, until we all join you one day.