Andrea Sims and I were introduced at age two in the Hillview Baptist Church nursery. Twenty-four years later, we're still friends.
The most beautiful bridesmaid bouquet I've ever had
When we were preschoolers, we would play together often because our moms were good friends. Even though my little sister would tag along (who was soooo annoying to us then!), we'd manage to find a way to pass the time.
As we grew into school ages, we shared a love for piano, and took lessons from Miss Vicki. Ironically, Miss Vicki now lives in Nashville and hosted the brunch for Andrea on Friday. It was during those years that we also became an avid sticker-collectors. Any trip to Wal-Mart became an opportunity to buy more stickers. Andrea's collection was always bigger than mine, but I never quit trying. Our trades were something like this: "I'll give you an entire sheet of Alf stickers for half a page of Garbage Pail Kid stickers." You get the idea.
Grace Community Church, Nashville, Tennessee (sorry I don't have any photos of the ceremony; I was kinda busy)
The teenage years brought youth camps, choir retreats, first kisses and double dates. I won't elaborate as much on these years, but man, were they fun. Countless nights were spent at Andrea's house looking through YM and Seventeen magazines, taking every quiz possible, and picking out our prom dresses two years in advance.
Andrea and her mom, Brenda
After high school, we parted ways as Andrea went to Vanderbilt and I headed to Samford. We still kept in touch, although our lives were changing. I went to Nashville for a weekend and was exposed to real-live country line dancing.
Andrea stayed in Nashville to teach high school English and I crossed the ocean to serve in Africa. One of my favorite birthday memories is when I heard Andrea's voice say, "Happy Birthday!" while in Lesotho. Not every friend will call to wish you a happy birthday when you live in Africa.
Andrea is a dear friend who has a card for every occasion, a pickier appetite than most small children, and a heart as big as her hugs. It was a true honor to watch her relationship with Harry develop, grow and mature. The wedding ceremony was sincere, worshipful, and full of love. In twenty-four years of friendship, I've never seen a day when Andrea smiled more.
Congratulations to Harry & Andrea Frankenfeld!
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