stay brave.

So I am not one who uses hashtags.  Or pound signs. Or sharp symbols.  Whatever you choose to call them.

But I think this can be one to excuse as acceptable, in my book.

Last weekend, I spent some good time with my good friend.

We went to the beach, went shopping, ate at the Cheesecake factory, talked a lot, sat in the sun, got some funky piercings, had tons of opportunities to laugh...

And among all that, we developed this little hashtag: stay brave.

We were actually on the beach talking about tattoos and what tattoos we had thought about getting.  The one that I was explaining to her involved a lot of thought and a lot of meaning.  One of the pieces of my [maybe someday] tattoos represents the deep meaning to me of the story of Jesus walking on water. The narrative reminds me that I am not in control of the waves; Jesus gives me that courage.  The water reminds me to stay brave and look to Jesus. Annélise stopped me and said that she really liked that; prior to our time on the beach she said to me over and over that I was so brave to drive to Florida without a GPS, and that I was so brave to do other things I was explaining to her.  She said that 'stay brave' could be my slogan, and I can make t-shirts: "Stay Brave." And we could have a hashtag for it: #staybrave. It was only fitting for each of our lives right now; a reminder to stay brave in the big and little things.  

Throughout the rest of our time, we joked and encouraged each other with our new phrase: stay brave.

And so I bravely drove back to Cola the next day.

Miles apart, I miss her already, but we had such a great time, and we now have a few new inside jokes and memories together, including the encouragement of staying brave.

So stay brave, friends!!

What did you do with your Memorial Day Weekend?