Over 15 years ago, some members of the current Convent of the Sacred Heart senior class walked through the Barat House as preschoolers, exposed to a new world of education and friendships. Throughout the years, these “lifers“ have maintained relationships with friends which will continue well beyond their lives at Sacred Heart.
Jackie Urbinati and Fran Hay, two lifers at Sacred Heart, have been best friends since pre-kindergarten. The pair has faced the ups and downs of Lower, Middle and Upper School life. Even though they will be six hours away next year, with Jackie at Boston College and Fran at University of Richmond, the two do not think their friendship will be affected.
“We’ve been close for so long that distance won’t affect us,” Jackie said. “We will most likely FaceTime and text each other every day.”
Fran agrees with Jackie that the distance will not affect their relationship because they can easily pick up where they left off.
“When Jackie goes to tennis tournaments for long periods of time and we don’t talk for a week or two, we can always find time to catch each other up on what we have missed,” Fran said.
Even though the two have experienced being apart for days at a time, they have never been away from each other for multiple weeks, let alone months. Fran hopes to make multiple visits to Jackie at Boston College and also plans on attending some of her tennis matches.
“I’ll miss seeing her everyday because she always brightens my mood and makes me laugh even when I’m having a bad day,” Fran said. “It’s definitely going to be hard to go from seeing her everyday to seeing her once every few months, but I know that our friendship will always remain strong.”
Jackie has cherished the simplicity of their friendship, from Fran’s morning hugs to just relaxing and hanging out together.
“I’m really going to miss calling her up at 8 pm on a Tuesday to go and get Carvel, and I’m going to miss our sleepovers,” Jackie said.
While Jackie and Fran will be in the same region of the country, seniors Miranda Falk and Mary Grace Henry will not have the convenience of visiting each other as frequently since the two will be 720 miles apart next year. Miranda will be attending Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York and Mary Grace will be studying at University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
Although Miranda and Mary Grace did not have an automatic connection at the Barat House, the two became friends while working on a science symposium project in fifth grade. After picking each other as partners for the project, the two bonded over their love of dogs and decided to incorporate them in their project.
“We plan on staying in touch through whatever means possible,” Mary Grace said. “We both want to stay in touch and therefore, because we both want to – it’ll happen. We’re going to have to work at it and it’s going to take time but we are both ready to do so and invest in our friendship.”
While the two will be apart by a nearly 12-hour drive, Miranda hopes to surprise Mary Grace with unsolicited visits next year. Miranda agrees that even though the two have created a sisterly bond, there will have to be a lot of effort put into maintaining their connection because of the time and distance apart.
Through the memories Mary Grace and Miranda have created over the years, they will both miss the other’s kind and generous spirits.
“I guess the saying is true – dogs really are a man’s best friend. They’re how I found mine,” Mary Grace said.
– Alessia Barcelo, Staff Writer
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Friendships rooted at the heart
May 26, 2015
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