Growing up, I never had a sister. I was constantly influenced by my brother and my cousins and was never really 'girly' through childhood. Because of this, I developed the notion that girls were dramatic and was always that little girl with a boy for a best friend.
I only recently learned the true meaning of sisterhood while completing rushing GATA at ACU. As a pledge class, as a social club, and as a school; we've been going through a difficult time. Katie Kirby, one of our fellow pledges, a fellow Odyssey writer too, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly Sunday afternoon.
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I won't say this hasn't affected me, because it has; but it has surely affected other girls more than me. I cannot say that I was personally close with Katie, but I was able to see her smile, hear her jokes, and be in a sisterhood with her throughout pledging. I was able to laugh alongside her when we were too tired to think clearly, and now I'm able to stand alongside my sisters remembering the light Katie was in all of our lives.
I feel like I can say that I more fully understand the meaning of a sisterhood, especially one that people constantly slam as 'paying for friends'. Through this terrible time, my sisters have embraced every single one of us and been support for so many. The past few days I've seen our girls making themselves available to pray, cry, and uplift anyone who needs it, GATA or not.
Now more than ever, we're honoring Katie's memory by showing the type of love she showed us towards each other. If you're hurting, I encourage you to reach out to one of us. The main thing keeping us together is how tightly we hold one another. If we hold each other close and uplift one another, we can get through this growing stronger in our faith and in each other.
By all means, though, we cannot fall apart. Everyone grieves in their own ways; some through silence, some through crying, and others even through laughter. We cannot begin to judge one another for our ways of grieving, because we will only begin to tear each other down.
Through this, I ask that you keep an open and soft heart towards ACU and Katie's friends and family. Be in constant prayer over her family, as we cannot begin to understand the pain and loss they're experiencing. If you feel inclined to support them financially, there will be an opportunity like that in the near future.
Lamentations 3:31-33 ~
"For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love. For He does not willingly bring grief or affliction to anyone."
