Chloe Salmon

Welcome to The Moth.

I'm Chloe Salmon.

There are so many stories about romantic love, which is fair, I guess.

But I take your romantic love and raise you a different relationship.

One that can be just as fulfilling and honestly, sometimes even more so.

Friendship.

I'm grateful for my friends every day because each and every one of them is a perfect, beautiful angel who supports me fiercely but is also willing to give me an honest opinion about the new haircut I want to try out.

Without them, I would be a lonely girl with a bowl cut I thought would look French, probably.

In this episode, three stories all about friendship, from how they can be there for you during challenging times to a friend's unconditional love to the gummy bears.

Don't worry, we'll get there.

First up is Lauren Karch, who told this story at a main stage in Dayton, Ohio, where the theme was more than meets the eye.

Here's Lauren, light it them off.

That was Lauren Karch.

Lauren is a writer and local government employee, and she says yes, it is just like Parks and Rec, in the happiest place on earth, the greater Dayton area.

She tells stories in Dayton and encourages you to check out your local art scene.

Also, if you were wondering, the hot cello player who Lauren talked about in her story heard through the grapevine that he was mentioned on stage.

We hope you're listening, hot cello player.

The summer before my last semester of college, I had an internship in New York City.

I knew it was going to feel very different from my Kansas college town, and I was scared.

Enter Sean, a friend of a friend who had just graduated and was moving to NYC to start a new job.