Katie Did and Katie Does
#Resound11: Thelma & Louise
Categories: #Resound11

Prompt 6 – Thelma & Louise: Who is the Thelma to your Louise? Who is your partner in crime? Did you reacquaint yourself with an old friend? Did you make a new friend? Or, perhaps, you are a lone ranger? Take some time today to look back on how you spent your year and give a shout out to anyone that helped to make it special. If you don’t have any close friends that fit the bill, think about who you spend your time with on a regular basis, who is the bright spot in your day? Maybe you joke around with a coworker just to get through the day. Maybe the barista who serves your coffee knows your order by heart and/or knows when to suggest you mix it up. Who makes your life just a little bit better just by being themselves?

I love the movie, “Thelma & Louise.” Not because I’m a woman and all chicks like this movie. I love it because it embodies two key points that I identify with: utter freedom and the idea that anything is possible.

I’ve been very blessed to have some incredible friends in my life, both male and female. There are many friends from around the world that I have made lasting memories with, each of whom were in my life at different, important moments, and who will be my friends throughout my lifetime. Each person is unique, our relationship is strictly our own, and the memories I carry from each of them, I carry in my heart. They have helped make me who I am, and have helped shape my life into what it is. I cherish these people.

But when I think about this prompt, what it is asking me to think about, and then apply it to 2011, there is one person that I have spent the most time with, made the most memories with, made me laugh the most, spilled my guts to, revealed all of my insecurities to, made you-must-be-outta-your-mind plans with, vacationed with, went into business with (twice!), talked about my future with, been the most spontaneous with, celebrated with, cried to, cheered for, and missed the most when he was gone. That person is Dan, who not only has become my best friend, my confidant, but who–I am lucky to say–is my love.

Some may cry foul at listing one’s significant other as the “Thelma to their Louise,” but, to me, it can’t be anyone but him. Outside of my parents, Dan is the only person in this world I have ever showed all of myself to. Unlike my parents, he doesn’t have to love me. But he does anyway.

I have many friends, and I don’t say that lightly. Friends are not commodities. They are gifts that should be honored and acknowledged for the blessings they bring you. I have lived many places and have experienced many things, and with each new experience, I’ve made lasting and honest friendships. But in 2011, I cultivated a type of relationship I have never experienced before. Taking all of the best things about my friendships and pairing them with the unwavering love and support of a domestic partner has opened my eyes to what I have been missing all along about romantic relationships: it’s not about the Fabio-like hair waving in the breeze or any other ridiculous nonsense we tell ourselves about what relationships are supposed to be. The best romantic partnerships come from being able to do all of the crazy, lovable, exciting and heartfelt things you do with your closest friends. One can usually identify who a friend is by how comfortable they feel with them. What I’ve realized this year is that you can identify who a life partner is by how “you” you feel when you’re with them. I am more free to be me than I have ever felt before. And I feel, now more than ever, that anything in life is possible.

So, Dan, I’m not sure who you play in this movie, Thelma or Louise, but I’d drive off to Mexico with you tomorrow if you asked me to.

4 Comments to “#Resound11: Thelma & Louise”

  1. Lisa Wurster says:

    I am now sitting here crying and I Love You for it. I could not ask for a better person to be in my brothers life nor mine for that matter 🙂

  2. nicole says:

    things like this give me hope 🙂

    • Katie says:

      You should always have hope! It was not long ago that I felt as you have recently. I thought it was a lost cause for me…but, alas, it wasn’t. And the same will be true for you. Hard to hear and believe, I know, but it really is the truth.

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