Friends

Some of my most favorite people ever! 

I hesitate to post this because I have so many good friends.  There are many, many people from Lakewood who've touched my life, and whom I would love to see again.  Even if you don't find your name on this list, I probably think of and admire you.  There are SO MANY I love there, and you are one of them.  I wrote this two months ago, just before our move.  I'll publish it as if it was...

August 18th, 2013.

I've lived here five years now, and so many faces are as dear to me as family.  With less than two weeks left, though, I'm waxing sentimental.  The closer it gets, the more I feel my emotions bubbling within me, threatening to burst me at the seams.  So here is my attempt to record my friendships.  I keep a tight circle, so you'll notice that.  I also only mentioned friends who are still living here.  My list would be so much longer if I didn't!!


Dani. 
When we first moved here, I knew her because she loved to hold baby Mira at church.  Later, I offered to help her put together a resume.   While she was at my house, she played with Liesl, and I saw the potential in this situation.  I also had a vehicle and she didn't.  So it began.  More and more, I began to depend on her, and hopefully, I've become someone she can count on, too.  In May of 2009, she was able to come watch my kids while I underwent emergency surgery (for a ruptured tubal pregnancy) until my mom came to take over.  Now she is like a part of our family.  The kids run to greet her, even Rhoda, who really crawls to her.  Whenever she comes to babysit, she brings a big bag of toys, and she always plays with my kids.  She plays with my kids more than I do. (I should change that.)  Dani has been a humongous blessing in our lives; I only hope we've been the same to her.  Her's is the absence I'm going to feel the most because she means so much to our family.

Charlie's Safari for a birthday party made
a great lunch date for Holly and me, too.

 Holly. 
I could talk to Holly for hours.  We met when I was assigned to visit teach her, and I feel so blessed that we became fast friends.  I don't know how she felt about it, but I loved just dropping by her house on Sunday evenings (even if she felt under dressed). We joked once that I had an unstated reoccurring appointment on the last Sunday of the month.  (Yes, I can be THAT visiting teacher, but I do it with heart!)  Our girls were the same sizes and into the same things.  When the Captain deployed, Holly had her hubby, Joe (equally awesome,) babysit so she and I could go to a movie.  Joe also assembled my girls' birthday bikes when I was large with Rhoda-belly.  Holly has a gift for making me feel special and loved, and she's especially good at keeping it real!  

 Jill. 

Clockwise from left: Demarko, Jill, Bobbie, Lisa, Leo, Tom

Jill is the lady on the left of the picture below.  She might look quiet and unassuming, but trust me, she can talk. And we talked for hours together.  I still remember our first phone conversation.  It occurred in the heat of the 2008 presidential election when John McCain had just introduced Sarah Palin as his VP.  We talked about her.  I don't remember what we said, but I'm pretty sure that whatever it was, Jill was right.  She has this amazing gift of pointing out the humorous and/or positive things that I wouldn't notice.  She's always been forgiving of my impetuousness.  Before I had my own herd of children, we would go to the zoo together.  We also celebrated a couple Independence days, Thanksgivings, and  Christmases.  I was blessed to attend the sealing of her youngest son to her family.  She's a good friend, and I hope it's not too long before our paths cross again, especially since her son, Dillon, is in love with Mira.  They'd make a cute couple.

Bobbie.

Bobbie is tall!  My first memory of Bobbie was when I opened my fat mouth and said something about how I was so glad I wasn't six feet tall like I wanted to be as a girl.  Bobbie, who never hesitates to say just what needs to be said, put me in my place right away by stating that she herself was six feet tall and proud of it!  Needless to say, I felt like a jerk, but for some reason (and I've always wondered why), she never held this against me.  Over the years, we became friends.  I could really talk to her for hours-- she is a vibrant person to talk to, and has so much wisdom to impart. My husband home-taught her family (most months), and I usually went with him.  Bobbie became my one-person local homeschooling support group.  I could call her for advice, help, or to vent.  I loved having her watch my kids just so we could when I picked them up, and we did that quite a bit last year.  Not only am I going to miss our conversations, but I'm also going to miss buying dinosaur stuff for her dino-crazed daughter.

Rena holding 2-day-old Rhoda "Baby Rina" (same pronunciation)

Rena--Catherine.
Rena lived across the street from me at our second house in the area.  I remember meeting her in the street when we were just checking out the house.  She and her husband were kind and eager to have a family with children move in.  Little did I expect how attached I would become to this little Scottish lady.  I was 20 days from delivering when we moved into the house, but she and her husband, Don, were still very excited for us.  Don was the first one to ask what name we'd stuck to the baby, and he strongly approved of it.  Rena especially took a liking to baby Marshall.  She always hoped he'd pick up on her Scottish brogue.  (I tried to pick it up, but it didn't work.)  Whenever I was having a bad night, I'd just walk across the street and sit and talk to Rena and Don.  (Don likes to tell me how his Visa stock is doing-- usually well.)  I miss living across the street from them.  I feel as if Rena and I were friends before this life, though I can't say she feels the same about me, but no matter--  I love her!  Enough to name my next baby after her, in a roundabout way.  Katarina is the Russian form of Catherine, and a more direct root for the nickname Rina.



Lisa. 
Lisa has a pure gold heart.  She is someone I look up to so much.  Our friendship was slow to blossom, but blossom it did.  It helped that I moved a mere block away, and it helped that our kids were the same age.  It also helped that she makes the best brownies ever!  Srsly!!  But in all seriousness, she did me great service while the Captain was deployed; she felt her duty to serve and help me was equal to my husband's duty to serve the country.  She watched my kids a lot while he was gone.  As in, I can never do anything close to reciprocating.  She even watched 4-month-old Rhoda overnight when I had surgery, even though Rhoda barely knew what to do with a bottle and had to be held a lot.  And Lisa liked it!!  I decided our friendship was heaven-sent when we discovered that she served a mission with my cousin.  Her adorable sons are my son's best friends, and I know he's going to miss them.  I know I'm going to miss feeding Michael when he comes over! (wink wink)  I'm going to miss my chats with Lisa, and her food, but mostly, I'm going to miss her warm heart.



Jessica. (Jessica, I have no pictures of you!!!!!!!  How did that happen?)
Watching her grow in the church has been amazing.  Her testimony, love, and trust are cherished gifts she shares with me.  Her example of service and witnessing is a powerful testament of her strong spirit.  Jessica is going through so much right now, and it's absolutely amazing that she still finds heart to check up on me and ask how I'm doing.  I'm going to miss her friendship.

Kimberly.

Kimberly has the loveliest southern accent.  I admire her sweet, kind spirit.  She is so kind and giving and such an angel.  She has three rambunctious boys, but she handles them so sweetly and calmly. 

Virginia.  Such a lovely lady.  She is so kind and warm.  I love talking to her and I'll miss her warm embraces.



Danny & Theresa.

Theresa and I used to walk together, and those were good times, though brief.  Danny was the springboard to many a project; he was always there for me when I needed something.










Celeste.  Kind, funny, married to someone who knew my cousins, so that makes us practically family!  I always loved talking to her.  I hope some of our kids decide to marry one another so I can have awesome inlaws like she and Bryan.

Andrea.  Generous, kind, fun to talk to, and always willing to give a hug or hold a baby.  She really helped me so much when we first got here; I swear I called her every week to ask her advice.


The one thing all of these women have in common is that they have loved and accepted me.  Looking back, it pains me to admit that these ladies have done much more for me than I every will them.  I'm reminded of President Monson's adage, people before projects-- they've lived by that, but I have not.   I look back and I think, I could have done more with my friends!  Maybe that's just sentimentality speaking, but it doesn't make the goodbye any easier.  I'm still going to miss them terribly.