Forgotten

My handsome husband does a lot for me. Like that beard, he grew it for me. Pretty nice huh? Anyways the weekend before Thanksgiving he did something really nice for me. He loaded up all of our luggage, no swearing at all (well I wasn't really around so I'm not sure) and we started our Thanksgiving vacation a bit early.

My bff, Cindy, from high school was getting married in San Diego. So we left Friday evening, dropped off the kids at my sisters at 11:30pm and made it to San Diego around 1am to check into our hotel room, got a little shut eye and got up and ready the a 10am wedding.
(Are you impressed that she and I can hold a basketball in our hands like that? I am a true baller I tell ya.)


My other bff Kathleen was going to be there also. So Tommy was going to get to be part of a sweet reunion for sure.

We were pretty inseparable through the high school years. Since I was the only kid left at home I think my parents were happy that I had close friends to keep me entertained and keep me company. Every day after school I would go to Cindy's house, we'd eat her moms leftover dinner from the night before, she was an awesome cook, and then we'd spend numerous hours talking about who knows what.

I think either I spent the night at Kathleen's house every weekend or vice verse and during the summer I think we just spent weeks on end at each others houses. I have many fond memories spending time with these girls and a few hard ones as well. They were there for me when my mom died, spent the night with me that night and all, they were there at the funeral, and their parents were there to help try to fill a hard void afterwards.

I'll be frank and say I was a dumb high school teenager and probably had the hardest break-up of my life when Kathleen and I ended our friendship. (Why are girls so mean in High School?) I have to laugh a bit when I think of the aftermath of our break up with each of us dropping off the others things. I literally had a black garbage bag of her things, and she the same, apparently we had already moved in with each other. We tried to patch things up, but it was off to college and onto our perspective new lives.

Needless to say I was a bit nervous about attending the wedding. We all have kept in some sort of contact through out the years, but I hadn't seen either one of them in over 8 years.

Thomas and I arrived in the nick of time, after getting lost when our hotel was less than a mile away and the first person I saw was Kathleen.

It was a great day. I had forgotten how much these girls mean to me, how much their families had done for me and what a deep impression they had on my life. I think that in my family we run away from high school thinking we never should look back, but this was a lesson to me, that every part of our lives, whether it is in immature years, or mature years, they are important and there for a reason. We are all here in this life to buoy each other up, to learn from eachother and to try to do better.

I think our lives take certain paths for a reason and that at different times we come into contact with different people. Whether it's so we can support them, or they can support us, I truly believe that our Heavenly Father guides our friendships in life for a direct purpose. I'm sorry I wasn't the best friend I could have been to these girls in high school, I was young and stupid, but I was so happy to have had the opportunity to 'rekindle' my friendship, to be able to partake in some of their joy and learn of some of their sadnesses. To be able to let them know how impressed I was with how beautiful of people they are and what great lives they live. And Also to be able to speak with their parents again and let them know how important they were to me. It is sort of cliche to say but I am so grateful for the opportunity. I had the opportunity to be there and to have had all of these emotions and lessons taught to me. Maybe I'm not able to express them all exactly the way I would want them to be said, but it truly was an eye opening weekend and I hope never to forget it.

The wedding was beautiful, right on the ocean and the spirit grew stronger with each truth being told. The pastor spoke of marriage being between a man and a woman,that it is ordained of God and that without God in our marriages we have nothing, that love is kind, love is not selfish, and that love is not prideful.

I'm so grateful for my marriage to this great guy. For the gospel we have in our lives, and for the unending support he gives me through all of our many adventures in life. He truly is my best friend.