The Wedding Party: Cynthia Bolanos

This is the last bridesmaid I will be writing about that is not a member of my family, and I couldn't think of a better way to transition into telling y'all about my sisters than to tell y'all about my soul sister. Cynthia Bolanos and I met in Ms. Kay Thompson's class on the first day of fifth grade. We sat across the room from each other, but over the course of that year we became best friends. Throughout middle school, our friendship continued to blossom to the point where we talked on the phone every single night at 9pm just to talk about boys or to hear about each other's days. Going into high school, we knew it would be us against the world because we were leaving an eighth grade class of 67 students to enter into a ninth grade class of over 400. We were so excited to find out we had a lot of the same classes, and I vividly remember wanting to cry the first time we had to go our separate ways for class. While I didn't realize it at the time, the friendship we established at Waccamaw Elementary School, between all the band classes and field trips and lunch times, was one that I would end up carrying with me for the rest of my life. Cynthia is my best friend in the whole world - she has been since we were ten years old, and I can't imagine what my life would now look like without her by my side for all these years.

Some of my favorite memories with Cynthia come from our time together in theatre in high school. We always tried to be in the same theatre classes and would spend more time hiding backstage talking than we would actually onstage acting. We really discovered who we wanted to be inside the four walls of that little theatre, and I would not trade those moments for anything. We went through A LOT together in high school, and fortunately for us we came out on the other side of those struggles much stronger. We thought back then that life was so hard, and we couldn't wait to become adults, but little did we know how much life would change after we graduated. There was a period of nine months that Cynthia and I spoke very little, if at all, after high school. We both just got so busy with our separate lives and different colleges that we rarely made time for each other. All that changed the day she told me about a little miracle we now call Sophia Lorraine. 

Cynthia has always been my person. She has always been the first person I would go to when things were great or when things were bad. She has supported my dreams and occasionally told me when I was wrong. She is the color in my very black-and-white life. She helps me see a different perspective than what I am used to seeing. We are complete opposites, but somehow we have always worked together. She has been all these things for me, and if these were the only things she had ever done for me in my whole life, that would have been more than enough for me. But she didn't stop there. On November 13, 2014, she gave me one of the greatest blessings of my life by making me a godmama to an angel. Ever since that day, she and I have been inseparable. It was such an honor to be a part of the biggest day of Cynthia's life, and there is nothing I am more proud of than the mother she has become over the last two years. The things she has taught me through her journey of motherhood are priceless. She has given me a front-row seat to the real, hard, vulnerable, and tiring journey of being a mom, but has shown me all the reasons it is beyond worth it. I will never be able to thank her for the role she has allowed me to play in Sophia's life and for the impact it has had on my own. If God allows me to be a mother someday, I will owe so much of what I know to Cynthia Bolanos.

Of all my friends, Cynthia is the most passionate. She has big dreams and a big heart to match. She was born to chase the sun and to find adventure. She is also a diva, and I will always be the first to tell her when she is being too much to handle (😘). Cynthia is the most loyal and understanding friend in the world. There is no one I would rather have on my side than her because there is nothing anyone could do to change her loyalty. She is so intelligent, beautiful, kind, and free-spirited, and my only hope is that one day she would be able to see herself through my eyes. She is the girl-version of my soul mate, and I will proudly say that for the rest of my life. I am the luckiest girl in the world, and have been for nearly 12 years, to call Cynthia Bolanos my best friend.

Cynthia's relationship with Al has developed over time, and it cracks me up to think about one of their first interactions together. Before Al and I ever officially started dating, we had feelings for each other but there always seemed to be drama (#highschool). Well after the hundredth time of hearing me cry, Cynthia took matters into her own hands and basically told Al how it was going to be. Needless to say, they got off on the wrong foot. However, over the last five years of us dating, they have grown to really love each other and become good friends. There is nothing I love more than spending time with Cynthia, Al, and Sophia all together. Al kept Cynthia very in the loop about his proposal plan. Since I knew Cynthia would be in the loop, I bugged her every single day about what I thought was happening. She gets the best best friend award because one night in early September, I told her I thought I knew when Al was going to propose. She asked me when, and I said either the 16th or the 23rd of October. With the most believable lie I think she has ever told, she told me it was not either of those days, that it wasn't even on a Sunday. From that point forward I was convinced it was happening on a Saturday, and I was no longer suspicious of Sundays. As many of you know, Al did in fact propose on the 16th of October, and had Cynthia not lied to my face that night, I would not have been surprised (you go bff). Cynthia was the first person I hugged after Al proposed, and she has stood by my side every second of this engaged journey. Al and I love her more than she knows, and I cannot wait to have her standing by my side as we enter into this next season of life.

Cynthia Yasmine (😉) Bolanos, how could I possibly describe in one blog post the kind of friendship we have? It is truly one-in-a-million, and I will never be able to tell you how much you mean to me. If you don't know it by now, there isn't a thing in the world I wouldn't do for you and your girl. I cannot wait for a lifetime more memories and big moments with you. This is the time we've been dreaming about together for our whole lives, and I am so excited to share it with you. You are my best friend, my sister, my person, and my partner-in-crime, and you always will be. You have always, always, always got a friend in me, Gertrude. I love you to infinity and beyond... forever.