By Brooke Radnor (Gamma Omicron, Marshall University)
Once in a while, the Universe just gives you a sign that lets you know everything is “as it should be.” I graduated from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia where I was very active in the Gamma Omicron chapter of Alpha Chi Omega. I loved every moment (sometimes too much) of my years at Marshall University. After college, I spent several years in New York before accepting a promotion within that same company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Soon after moving, I learned there was a new person that had been hired to be my partner. Her name was Lindsey Prewitt (now Arnold). I was in sales, she was in education, and together we were to rule the world of cosmetics. I knew the first time I met Lindsey that I liked her. Her boss was in town, and she was there to watch Lindsey teach a seminar on the latest and greatest company initiatives. Lindsey was nervous and I could tell, but the smile never left her face. She forgot to bring some of the essential supplies, and she panicked, but I just happened to have those needed supplies in my car – which was an odd coincidence as I didn’t normally carry these items with me (hello, Universe!). She was so grateful; her boss never knew, and she went on to teach an amazing seminar.
After the seminar (and after the boss left), we sat down to have dinner to learn more about one another. We talked so fast and laughed so much that we didn’t even get to the good part until halfway through dessert. “Where did you go to college?” she asked. “Marshall University, in Huntington, West Virginia; have you seen ‘We Are Marshall’?” (You have to say that whole sentence so people know where you went to college.) Once these words came out of my mouth, they were met with a loud and southern, “Shut the front door!”
Yes, Lindsey also attended Marshall University about 10 years after I was there! An AMAZING coincidence for sure! We loved that we had this in common and were celebrating how we would for sure be the team to beat in our company! Ten years is a long time between graduating classes, but we decided to see if we knew any of the same people. This time, Lindsey started the conversation with, “We probably don’t know the same people because I am from Kentucky, so I lived in my sorority house.” My ears perked up – I mean, this is big, right? I feel like I said this slowly, but it could just be my imagination: “What sorority were you in?” I looked like a kid who was hoping to receive a surprise, and then she said the words, “Alpha Chi Omega.”
The screaming could be heard from miles around!! We didn’t care who was looking or who could hear us; we were literally screaming, jumping and hugging inside of this very nice restaurant! After this, there was no turning back – we shared every single detail of our lives…that night. We lived in the same room during college – second floor, front of the house, on the corner, right beside the house mom’s room! Immediately I was back in college, sharing my heart with my sisters in the beautiful house on that second floor. Our work meetings became sleepovers because we both traveled from out of town and stayed at the same hotel. And yes, pancakes for breakfast are mandatory at all sorority functions (we may have made a few new rules).
Lindsey and I have been the best of friends since that day (over 15 years). We have seen each other through broken hearts, weddings, children, job elimination (sigh, this one was tough, but I never cried alone), the buying and selling of homes, health crises and just basic everyday life. She lives in Kentucky. I live in Pittsburgh. She is so much more than a friend, and the Universe knew it. She is my sister. #GammaOmicron #AlphaChiOmega #MarshallUniveristy
