Thanksgiving in August: Meghan & Bill

I had to talk Meghan into moving in with me in 2009 after I met her in '08. I knew she was calm and quiet and would, therefore, make a good roommate. She turned out to make a superb roommate, and she and our other roommate Mark started spending more time together than I have with most of my housemates over the years.

I met both Bill and Meghan when they started grad school in Tallahassee in 2008. It is impossible not to love Bill immediately upon meeting him. He's charismatic, very funny, and has a habit of being self-deprecating that is instantly lovable. He is also a party planner and is constantly pushing other people to do things that are out of their comfort zones. I find his personality infectious and compelling, and I feel like he was constantly convincing me – and still can convince me – to do things I wouldn't normally do.

The thing I think I love most about Meghan is her sass and her ability to lay down the law when it is needed. She is quiet and unassuming, and it's easy to look at her and think that she's got nothing to say and is only thinking very nice things about other people. What I have always loved about her is that while she is normally thinking nice things about people, she always has something to say, and usually it's hilarious. Meghan refuses to take any nonsense, and more than once she had to regulate on me when I was thinking or doing something that was self-detrimental.

We had the best time after Bill and Meghan got together in Fall of 2009. We would stay up late and drink, and talk into the night about nonsense and make fun of other people. And we would listen to each other and give (sometimes bad) advice to one another and try to make it through school in one piece. They threw an amazing surprise birthday part for me when I turned twenty-nine that I will never forget. It was such a lovely gesture and meant a great deal to me.Our roadtrip to Sarasota FL in 2010 is also a very fond memory, particularly because I got more drunk that weekend than I think I've ever been. Such ludicrously fun times!

Recently, Bill was in town for his graduation and Mark came into town for his graduation, and the three of us hung out without the rest of the graduate school and it just hit home to me how much I miss these two guys and our time together. Bill and Meghan have been so supportive of me and encouraging for me, and I am so very grateful for the time we got to spend together when we were living in the same city.

Bill and Meghan are in Michigan these days and I miss them both a lot. We text every once in a while – not enough – and hopefully they are coming to visit me this Fall. The truth is, I should go to Michigan to visit them, but, well, it's Michigan. Love you guys so much and can't wait to see you!