Button Menu

Together Forever - Met & Married and Bonded Besties

Together Forever: Met & Married and Bonded Besties

Bonded Besties by Sherry Richert Belul '86

Rachel Schroeder and I have been friends for 43 years! We met as freshmen at DePauw in the Bishop Roberts dorm in 1982.

I remember sitting in the hallway, eating popcorn with everyone on the floor. I instantly loved Rachel’s depth, emotional intelligence, and unique sense of humor. Even at that young age, she had a wisdom beyond her years. Rachel was always (and is still!) the friend I could talk to about absolutely anything!

We used to spend hours eating cinnamon twists and drinking coffee at a nearby restaurant (was it D+D’s?) or at Marvin’s eating burritos — always talking about relationships, spirituality, books, dreams, you name it. During our four years at DePauw, we truly supported one another through the ups and downs of growing up and navigating our way in the world.

Our college friendship easily survived her semester abroad in Strasbourg and also my year away — on the GLCA New York Arts Program followed study abroad in London. After we graduated, I got a summer gig as caretaker of that GLCA Brownstone smack dab in Hell’s Kitchen, 48th + 8th in Manhattan. I invited Rachel to come spend the summer and we had a blast.

From there, Rachel launched her career with the Airbus and created a beautiful life for herself in France. I went the other direction and built my life in San Francisco!

Throughout all the years in between, we stayed in touch via long letters, then phone calls, and then Skype and Zoom! Rachel is an incredible writer and photographer and I loved receiving handmade cards that featured her photos and stories from travels all over the world.

We’d see one another every half a decade or so when she was in the United States or when I traveled to Europe for my honeymoon in 2000. Even without seeing her in person frequently, I always felt deeply connected to her. However, what has really catapulted our friendship in a new direction is that we’ve seen one another FOUR times in the last three years.

I visited her in her art-filled home in Toulouse in 2022 and we also hopped in her car for an adventure in Barcelona. Then, in 2023, she and I spent a week in the French Basque Country — one of Rach’s favorite places in the world. Oh, my! She curated an exquisite vacation for us, including an ocean-front stay in Bidart and day trips to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Biarritz, Espelette, Ainhoa, and more.

There’s nothing like sipping wine at sunset overlooking the waters from a balcony in Bidart with a friend of 40+ years with whom you can say anything at all and who simply “gets you.” Or, gazing up together at Gaudi’s Casa Battlo, adorned with red roses for Saint George’s Day. Or, sipping coffee as you walk the beautiful old streets of Toulouse, in search of the best vintage stores and friperies! (Speaking of thrift stores, Rachel still owns a beautiful vintage sweater she bought when we were shopping together at the Greencastle Goodwill!).

In January of 2024, when Rachel turned 60, she invited friends and family from all over the world to join her for a celebration in NYC. We came full circle and toasted with champagne in an amazing Italian-Asian fusion restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen! (Greatly cleaned up since the 80’s!)

While there, Rachel and I made a pilgrimage to the old GLCA brownstone at 48th and 8th and we reenacted a photo from the summer of 1986, taken on the stoop, just after we’d graduated from DPU.

Then, when I turned 60 last fall, she curated a wonderful trip in the Spanish Basque country, which included Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastian. We even got to take a short trip to Marseille to visit my son who is a teaching assistant there!

I can’t imagine my life without my friend, Rachel. She’s added so many layers of joy and thought-provoking conversation in to my life — all of it woven together with laughter, art, sunsets, and adventures.

Thank you, DePauw, for giving me a lifelong best friend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Together Forever Stories, 2025