In true planes, trains, and automobile style, I have flown into O'Hare International Airport, and been swept along with the teaming crowd of passengers two floors beneath baggage claim to the bowels of the train station. I board the "L", the Blue Line, in the direction of Forest Park. I fight the urge to look at the other passengers' faces, imagining each of their individual lives; I know it is considered rude to make eye contact in the city in such close quarters, but I have been a people watcher since birth. At the Belmont stop, I exit the Blue Line and summon a driver on the Lyft app on my iphone. In a few minutes, I am in the back seat of his economy car, being driven through the few miles of snowy roads to a quaint old house, three stories tall, on a tree-lined side street in a charming residential Chicago neighborhood. I have arrived at Ginger Sandalwood. 

Up a few steps, and I am greeted at the front door by my daughter, Lauren, whom I have come to visit. I've made a number of similar short trips in the past few months to help Lauren with wedding planning. She is soon to be a Chicago bride. The first floor being another apartment, we drag my suitcase up a long flight of stairs to the second floor of the house. We are greeted by a long row of female shoes in the hallway, athletic shoes, fashionable boots, and slip-on flats. Near the end of the row, a large tan pair of men's loafers look shockingly out of place. Those would belong to Jeremy, Lauren's fiancé; he spends enough time here to merit a spot for a pair of his soles. 

In the living room, Emilee is soothing her soul from a long day at the office, and a long commute home, by strumming on her guitar. Marlee is sitting cross-legged beside her on the couch, crooning lyrics in her honey voice, from John Legend's popular love song, "All of Me". In a corner arm chair, Julia is bent over her laptop, creating a bracket for the new season of "The Bachelor", rather like a version of the March Madness Basketball Tournament. Katherine K. wanders through the room, bleary-eyed from starting her day of nursing clinicals at an ungodly hour, and announces that she did her first catheterization today. Of course the question begged asking: "male or female?" Katherine M. is in the kitchen, having worked out like a fiend at the gym after her own "9 to 5"; she is creating her dinner of an egg white omelet, stuffed with sautéd peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes, along with spoonfuls of almond butter, straight from the jar. 

It is just a typical evening in the life of six girlfriends, all in their first year, post Wheaton College graduation, who live together on two floors of an old house in a neighborhood in the Windy City. The house is refreshingly free of the cattiness and competition common among female friends in their early twenties. They genuinely like each other and pull for one another. I was in their house once when all six girls were gussying up to attend an event. Emilee came out in a borrowed dress (of course they wear each other's clothes!), and wanted to know if it looked okay. (I'm sure guys don't understand, but this is what girls do when they dress up: they seek female reassurance. I still send pics of myself to my daughter, Lauren, or my friend, Amy, and ask for input on which necklace or shoes to wear. It feels like I often ask Lauren if my outfit is age appropriate, but I digress). Despite all the verbal affirmations, Emilee was still doubtful and wondered if they were serious. I loved Marlee's response: "In this house, I think the assumption is that when someone is trying to dress up and look good, any comment will only be sincere."

So how did Ginger Sandalwood, which is actually the name of a beloved, fragrant candle, come to be? How did the lives of these six amazing girls get woven and interlaced together, rather like threads in a tapestry? The roots harken back to Fall Semester at Wheaton College, 2011. Lauren and Emilee were randomly paired together in a dorm suite in Fischer Hall with two other freshmen, Andrea and Mandy. The four of them had  wonderful chemistry, despite their geographical diversity. They called their group, "Suite Love". 

Andrea, or "Ang", as she is affectionately called, is a Jersey girl. Mandy is a Texan. Emilee, also know by her last name, "Wenz", is from Louisville (please be sure to pronounce that correctly: Lou-uh-ville!), and Lauren's southern roots were evident from the number of monogrammed items in that first dorm room. She acquired the nickname, "TT", for Tennessee and Tennis. She is sometimes called "Lo", a name highlighted by her father and boyfriend at one of the college tennis matches. When she would hit a good shot, Larry and Jeremy would antiphonally shout, "Heyyyyy  Lo". Okay, you probably had to be there, but it was quite funny. 

Wenz, TT, and Ang roomed together all four years at Wheaton. Mandy's college plans changed direction and so junior year, Marlee, also known as "Marta" to the girls, joined the group in their apartment. Marlee hails from Indiana, and is second oldest in a fabulous group of five sisters. This foursome had two unforgettable years together, bonding over great times, silliness, food, illness, and sometimes sadness. They called themselves "MELA" (Marlee, Emilee, Lauren, and Andrea). Their apartment was the one with the open door, and their social circles were quite wide. Larry and I were privileged to spend chunks of time with MELA. During college, their tradition was to road trip to Chattanooga for Easter weekend. Our memory bank is full of wonderful mountain hikes together, laughter ringing through the halls, and always, great food. Ten years from now, I would not be at all surprised if they were still coming to spend Easter with us, bringing their families along. 

The bond that held these girls together was so strong, that they were saddened at the thought of going their own ways after graduation. Second semester of senior year, talks commenced in earnest about the possibility of jointly renting a place in the city, and even adding more girls to make the cost more feasible. Emilee, Lauren, and Marlee were committed; Andrea had job obligations at Wheaton College and would be living there. Emilee had a job lined up at Allstate Insurance Headquarters in northern Chicago. Lauren decided to accept an offer to be on staff at her church, Church of the Beloved, in downtown Chicago. Marlee was a certified yoga instructor and was looking for work in the city.

Following graduation, Lauren spent five weeks in China, and so the task of finding a house fell to Marlee and Emilee. After a considerable amount of legwork, they found the perfect place, with six bedrooms. Three of their Wheaton classmate friends had agreed to join them in the big city. Katherine K. hailed from Greenville, SC. She and Lauren spent four years together on the Wheaton Women's Tennis Team. "Kitty", as she was dubbed by her tennis teammates, was looking to attend Rush University and work toward a nursing masters degree. Katherine M. grew up in Ohio and lived across the hall from MELA senior year. Her path also intersected with Lauren's freshman year, when they were both Young Life leaders for high school kids in the suburb of Geneva. She was a member of the Wheaton Swim Team and was interested in finding a job in Chicago, utilizing her business degree. Near the end of college, Katherine decided to shorten her name to "Kate", as a sign of a shifting, maturing identity. Emilee started calling her "Chate", which soon morphed into "Chato", which is what she is called today by the girls of sandalwood. Julia roomed across the hall from MELA as well during senior year, in an apartment with Chato. She grew up in the city, where her family moved to help start a church. She is known as "Juj" (rhymes with rouge); this childhood nickname carried over into college, thanks to a cousin who also attended Wheaton, and called her by the family pet name. Juj was taking a leadership position in Children's Ministry at Holy Trinity Church downtown, starting in late summer. 

Two weeks before move in, the perfect house fell through. There were foreclosure issues, and after many hours of research by Emilee, signing a lease did not seem like a prudent thing to do. And that is when they found Ginger Sandalwood, on a tree-lined street in a family friendly neighborhood, with free street parking to boot! It is a fabulous house, with many original architectural details: high ceilings, wide, oak moldings around the doors, a claw foot tub in one bath, and a spacious kitchen with granite countertops. The main floor is comprised of common areas: kitchen, bathroom, living room and dining room, and Juj's tiny bedroom. Upstairs is another story: there are four bedrooms and a bathroom, but in an odd configuration. Nothing strange about Kitty's room, which is just down the short hall. Marlee's room is in the center, at the top of the stairs. Her room is like grand central station. To get to Chato's room, the bathroom, or Emilee and Lauren's shared bedroom, you have to go through Marlee's room. It has the feel of a drama-less sorority house, rather than girls having their own bedrooms in an apartment with shared common areas, only workable because the girls are all gracious and flexible. It is a special arrangement for a unique year in these girls' lives. 

I'm sure you are as curious as I am about the daily workings of this house. Two bathrooms and six girls, all with different schedules, would appear to be a challenge, but they make it work. No one hogs the bathroom, and sometimes there are three girls in at the same time, leaning around each other to see the mirror for make up application. It is a model of how the world should operate! Please don't ask me about the amount of long hair in the bathroom; I have a "don't ask don't tell" policy regarding such sensitive matters. And I'm not sure who cleans. I am guessing that those who are the neatest in the bunch assume that responsibility; however, I like you all and do not want to name names. :)

The furniture and furnishings in the living room and kitchen is an assortment of pooled items, again, a testament to their generosity. I find the kitchen arrangement fascinating. They each buy their own food, and have assigned shelving areas in the refrigerator and cupboards. There is a counter devoted to fruit and beverages. The girls use a marker to tag their own produce; when I helped Lauren unpack from a Costco run, she added an "L" to each banana in the bunch that she had purchased. Spices and a few staples are shared communally. From my limited observation, they tend to eat a lot of homemade popcorn, cereal, fresh fruit, and peanut butter, right from the jar. As with any household, I am sure there are occasional issues to be addressed, but from the outside looking in, it feels like the place every single girl, fresh out of college, would want to call "home". Every time I visit, I am moved by the warmth and acceptance felt inside those walls. 

Here are some random facts about the Ginger Sandalwood Girls. Juj is the most amazing dancer; seriously, that girl can move! Marlee lives in lululemon clothes; makes sense since that is where she is employed. Chato is hard core about exercise. Emilee describes Chato's dream date with her future husband as participating in an ironman triathlon. The girls tease Kitty about her simple tastes in clothes; they say she just wears the same few things over and over but manages to look great regardless. And Lauren and Emilee have found in each other, the sisters biology never afforded them. I think it is their love and maturity that sets the tone for this house. They exemplify what it means to coax out the best that lies under the surface in another. 

If there is one constant in life, it is the truth that change is lurking around the corner. The girls in the house are experiencing it too. Emilee recently changed jobs: she is now a consultative analyst at Broadspire, located just minutes from the house. It has been a positive move on many levels. She also has been seeing a lot of a great guy named, "Sam". Along with her work in Children's Ministries, Juj is looking for ways to utilize her English writing background, perhaps by doing some editing. I'm not sure about any current changes for Kitty: she has a full plate as she works toward a masters in nursing. Chato's day job is working as an analyst at Springhill Consulting. She also has a passion for helping the disadvantaged; she recently devoted time as a volunteer swim coach. She would love to find more outlets in the future. And speaking of future, there are two soon-to-be brides in the house! Lauren is marrying Jeremy on April 2. They plan to continue their lives and work in the city. Marlee is marrying Ang's big brother, Caleb, in August. Andrea beat them both to the altar when she married David in January. There is so much love in the air, it is intoxicating!

The Girls of Ginger Sandalwood. I feel certain they will all look back from distant vantage points in their lives with fondness for this golden year: their first home out of college, surrounded by girlfriends who share an eternal focus, who love each other unselfishly, who are smart and funny and witty, and who can demolish a good batch of homemade cookies. I am proud of you all and feel so privileged to have had an occasional peek inside your special house. I feel certain you will all go on to recreate that sense of family, in other places that life takes you. Cherish your friendships because they are golden.