Nivah

JoNivah5
Originally uploaded by Glamorous Jo.

Nivah Ry Norman Eckert – my Matron of Honor. I’m five days older than Nivah, who was born on Flag Day, June 14th. I met Nivah in September of 1992 at Renee Reams apartment (off campus) when were new pledges for Kappa Delta. We had both pledged with friends, so she was sitting with her group and I was sitting with mine. We had to go around the room and say something unique about ourselves, and I said how when I was in Jr. High, I had to sleep in a football helmet to re-align my jaw. This made Nivah think I was a weirdo.
We were friends all through college and next door neighbors for two years. She lived in Jones 12 and I lived in Jones 10. We sang together in All Sing competitions and weddings and sorority functions. I always thought Nivah was classy and cool and the prettiest girl I knew. After college I moved to Louisville and Nivah moved to Chicago. I was running from my problems and Nivah was looking for adventure. After about a year and a half – we both moved to Nashville. I was still running from my problems, and Nivah was coming back home. We moved into an attic apartment on Blair Boulevard. The shower was so small you had to stick your leg out into the bathroom to shave. If I stood up too fast while opening a dresser drawer, I would knock myself out on the sloped attic ceiling. We were both broke, and at one point got second jobs at a five diamond restaurant, The Wild Boar. This is now the restaurant of which we do not speak.
That was seven years ago – and to say that much has happened in the last seven years seems comic. We’ve traveled, laughed, cried, grown, raged, changed – and been there for each other through the storms that inevitably come. In the past few years, she and I both faced tragedies that seemed insurmountable. She held my hand and I held hers. And I found out that sometimes water is just as thick as blood. That there are people in the world who will truly see you through the hard times and love you when you are unlovable (except when you’re sick and have germs, right Nivah?). Nivah is the sister I never had, the friend I lean on and trust, the person I admire and the woman I want to be. And even though we’ve been in more weddings than is print-able…..I’m so honored that she will be standing next to me when I marry Ryan.

I love you Niv – more than you know.