Bensinger family: How time changes things...for the better

When Bill and I first moved to St. Louis we didn't know anyone. Bill had a job at Kirkwood

High school and I had a job at Bally's Fitness while attending graduate school. Although completely enamoured by each other, we still craved friendships like those we culminated in college. (**shout out to my AGD girls!!**) What neither of us realized is how completely invaluable, life changing, and never ending these friendships would become. I can remember countless nights studying into the morning hours for tests, palpating every muscle, tendon, bone, and joint on each other's bodies. I remember giggling over silly acronyms to remember all the bones in the hands and the feet. I have vivid memories of every coffee shop in St. Louis, memorized how late they stayed open, and saved my pennies for the tasty 'drugs' they delivered to keep me awake a few hours longer. I remember sharing and comparing lunches every day, trading cookies like we were kids, and coveting the girl who lived at home and got YUMMY leftovers from her daddy's cooking (Katie - you know we ALL loved Daddy Pohl's cooking!)

What I think is even funnier, is how close our "boys" got. Bill and Brian attended several movies together...always the buffer seat between! They went out for drinks while we were studying...coffee drinks. They rode their bikes together when we were too busy for them. They patiently let their wives (and other's wives) test all their muscles.

The first 2.5 years we lived in St. Louis seem like a slight blur. Bill worked at Kirkwood during the day and Home Depot nights and weekends. I worked at Bally's from 5-8am and 5-8pm while attending graduate school in between. But the friendships we made during those precious hours of free time still remain. A few weeks ago we were able to get together again. This time we had 8 extra little bodies: ages 6,5,4,3,2,1,10months, 5 months. We laughed, giggled, and chatted like old times. However, there were few talks of peroneal nerves, goniometers, and force production deficits. We talked about everything else from potty training to stretch marks. We did, however, throw a few PT references in there: tummy time, head shape, and orthotics!

I thank God for these awesome friendships that I developed during graduate school and I feel so blessed that despite living across the country from each other, they have continued to blossom over the past 7 years since we've graduated.