August third was my 10,000th day of life. Less sentimental, more arbitrary. Interesting nonetheless. In more conceivable terms, I’m nearly 27.5 years old. And much to Steve’s dismay, I refer to the 27-29 year-old range as my ‘late 20s.’

My late 20s feel different than my early 20s—beyond just drinking less and getting paid more. Beyond just opting for function over fashion, and a 10:30 pm bedtime over a 2:30 am one.

Although I’ve always been surrounded by fiercely loyal friends, at nearly 27.5, I see it differently. In this season of life, I’m acutely aware of how my friends ‘show up.’ Like genuine, present, 8-hour-one-way-trip, show up.

And I’m wildly grateful.

Now, this isn’t anything new—our college group has never been flaky—but it is newly appreciated. And rightly so.

For the five of us—Tay Baby, Hannah, Nichole, and Kate—showing up looks different now.

It isn’t an impromptu chat in our couch-filled living room. Or a quick hop across the Third Street Divide. And unfortunately, it isn’t an SNC potato bowl or turkey shawarma dinner at the Caf. Today, the easiest way for us to meet up requires more than 800 miles of collective driving.

As we enter our late 20s, showing up looks like group FaceTime calls and midweek check-ins via text. Daily Snapchats and sarcastic social media comments. But fortunately, it also looks like coordinated weekend trips, annual Up North vacations, and bachelorette parties that remind us how we showed up early on—by playing flip cup in the kitchen and answering Taylor’s crack of dawn phone calls.

I can’t remember what inspired this nostalgic-appreciative sentiment; I thought of it a few weeks ago. (Proof that this isn’t some gushy, I-drank-a-bottle-of-wine post.) That said, I have a guess as to why it came about.

I’m calling Summer 2019, “Big Life Event Time.” Meaning, it could have been a multitude of things. Most likely, taking a shower, while listening to Kacey Musgraves, and thinking about how Nichole and Andy get married on Saturday, and how Kate and Eric will welcome the first li’l ‘College Gals’ baby soon thereafter.

Speaking of which, if you need another example of how these ladies show up, picture this: nine months pregnant Kate standing up in Nichole’s wedding. It’s happening. And although we’re a crazy-competitive group, I’m not sure we can one-up that level of friendship.

So, without getting overly preachy, (I realize I’m past the point of being overly sentimental), I’ll just say this: Show up for your people. It’s what we all need.