I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go with this blog. It is a salute to someone who passed away this week and a slam for this horrible thing called death, where we have to say goodbye to people we love.
For the past several years I have watched a very brave and beautiful woman fight constant battles with her health. She fought. She won. She fought. She won. She fought….so very hard. And this week, she said goodbye to us here on this planet and was sent to her next journey. This week, my best friend’s mom passed away.
I met my best friend Kara many, many years ago. She and I have been so close for so long, I do honestly consider her family.She is one of those friends that I know will be in my life forever, because we are family. Our lives have changed. Our roles have changed. Even our friendship has changed, but we are constant.
Girlfriend relationships are truly amazing and beautiful to me. So real, so nurturing, so hard and so honest. And when you have one of those girlfriends you experience so much together. We have battled and fought and disagreed plenty, but always find a way back. Because girlfriends who are family do that. We have seen each other turn from girls to women. We have seen each other blossom in our careers. We have seen each other fall in love. We have seen each other live life. We were each other bridesmaids and she has seen me give birth. And today, I watched her say goodbye to her mother.
When you meet your girlfriends, you don’t think about this. You think about their wedding, their kids, their careers, their triumphs. You don’t think, I will one day be at their mothers funeral. But, our path together brought us here and I am so thankful I was able to be there with her. Hearing her speak, watching her love, all I saw was her mom. All of their beauty combined. All of their love for each other overflowing any sadness that existed. She may not have felt it, but man, I did. Everyone did.
Death is just an awful thing. Sadly, it has been very predominate in my life since this year started. Maybe it is a fluke. Maybe it is just life as I get older. I do know that losing someone and or watching someone lose someone is just the worst feeling.
There are only two people on this planet who created my best friend. And sadly, one of them is gone. But I know when I see Joan in another life I will not forget to thank her for creating Kara. For creating this girlfriend who I cherish and who I have experienced so much of my life with. For making her the person she is, who is the person that I have fully embraced and vise versa. For better or worse. We are committed.
Growing up with old friends is so weird. It is truly beautiful and I am lucky enough to have a few of these girlfriends who I will grow old with. We will be together for all of the good and bad times in each others lives. But whether good or bad, we will have each other. And that right there can ease some pain.
Joan, I will never encounter another person like you. You never let life defeat you and followed your dreams more so than anyone I have ever known. You made me laugh, cry, you gave me your home when I needed it. You gave me your support when I needed it, but most importantly, you gave me Kara. One of the best gifts I have ever received. You will be missed greatly and I promise to take care of our girl as long as I am here.
