Filigree Friends

I have come to a real appreciation of my closest friends in this last week.  Spending time in my goodbyes before leaving for Texas, I have once again been reminded how amazing my nearest and dearest are, like filigree, they are intricate and amazing in their beauty.  God has given me a few choice soul sisters; women who know me and whom I have known far longer than the years listed.  I have to give kudos to the three ladies (Sherry, Robin, and Karen) I have spent the most time with in the last few days I have left in Utah.  I need to let them know how much their love and support have sustained me now and always.

To Sherry, my longest friend, a sister, a confidante, a person who I admire and appreciate.  I have been blessed to know her for twenty eight years.  I have the joy of saying that I introduced her to her husband, who is also one of my dear friends.  Her five children bring me joy that is indescribable.  Watching them grow, having them love me, has been an honor and a boon of comfort in ways I can't fully express.  It has also blessed me with the knowledge that good kids make the world a better place.  I could write a book about how much Sher's family means to me, but for now this is about her, the woman, the mom, the wife of Mel, and the friend of me.

Sher and I have spent so many nights burning the midnight oil.  Our senior year we sat at the edge of the river more nights than I can recall talking about our future.  I don't think our young dreams all came true, but I think the essence of what we hoped for each other and ourselves did come to fruition.  Somehow despite all our differences, or perhaps because of them, we have continued our friendship long after our HS graduation.  We have been through all the drama of boys, late night laughter, and all the joys of college kids.  We have laughed ourselves to tears more often than we have cried, though we were good at that as well.

Sher wrote me more than anyone, except Mom of course, while I was on my mission.  Her letters kept me sane.  She held me together when my dad died, when I was left to close out our family home for new owners, she helped me transplant dad's asparagus at mom's new place.  She let me die a little, but not too much.  She has been my fierce protector, my keeper of sanity for most of my life.  I have known her longer than I haven't.  She guided me through my first day at school in Junior High, how to make the perfect Taco Bender burrito, and how to get through a broken heart.  She sang alto to my soprano.  When my wedding finally came, she helped make my day a joy ... removing undue stress in all the little ways.  She has let me be a part of the early days of every one of her children, keeping me in the family loop, letting me glory in the joy of motherhood.  She is my peaceful port of call in the storms of this life.  This is just the smallest of slices of why I love her.  She is a kindred spirit, a part of all that I am.   She is a strong and amazing soul, and I am honored to call her friend.

Robin, well I met Robin in a Shakespeare class in January of 1998, and that in a nutshell tells you more than a book of writing could.  Robin is my English friend, my "oh to be in England as once we were" friend.  Robin is an amazing artist with the soul of a tiger.  She is the wife of Richard the Intelligent and Shiori the Bright (I swear this child is the cutest kid on the face of the earth and is so very smart).  Robin is my quirky eclectic artist friend.  I love everything about her chaos.  When I think of Robin the word that comes to mind is brilliant.  I am sure she would laugh, but I speak truth.  She paints; she writes; she makes lace by hand, and she makes beautiful books that I want to weep from the joy of receiving.  How many people do you know that make books?  Yeah, that would be my point ... She is art.  She views the world through a lens that to me is full of a dark and intoxicating beauty, and she shares her view with me.  How honored am I?  Very!

Robin is forgiving in ways that amaze me.  She and I were in love with the same man at the same time, and we never lost our friendship, or for that matter, fought about him.  She has had things happen in her life that would have ruined another woman, but she plows through them and is strong because of it.  Robin doesn't worship inside the box ... which I love.  She finds God in her own way, and that to me is pure beauty.  I love our religious discussions, even the hard ones.   Robin writes stories.  I love that about a person, but with her they are so blasted brilliant.  I can't wait for her to finish one:)  I can quite literally talk to Robin about anything.  I go and see her every week at least once, sometimes twice, to talk about nothing and everything.  She is gracious to open up her home for little ol' me whenever I need a place to blow a few hours while Doug is in class.   As a final note to the wonder of Robin, she made my wedding dress (as well as the wedding dresses of my sister Becky and my sis in law Darcie), and made the most important day of my life more beautiful than I could have imagined.   She is a wonder, a sometimes sarcastic and always wonderful soul who truly understands me.  Credendo vides my friend.  Thank you for letting me see the world through your eyes in so many beautiful ways.

Karen, my newest forever friend, sent in the darkest of times.  Karen and I have only known each other a couple of years; nonetheless, she is vital to my sanity.  Her quick little phone calls always keep me in the loop of the ever ensuing craziness in her life.  For years my friends have joked about my crazy life, and finally I have a friend who makes my life look like it is somewhat normal.  There are a ton of reasons why Karen and I are friends, not the least of which is that she was the person who got me through my year living in Provo.   We met at church and instantly became friends.  We both were suffering, and still are, from the pains of infertility.  We understood each other and all the blunt, sarcastic craziness from having really messed up acquaintances who do whackadoodle things that we just simply cannot understand.

Karen is one of the most spiritual people I know, but not the sappy gooey spiritual.  She just simply gets it.  That is all I can say about that.  She makes killer cupcakes, writes the occasional poem, makes me laugh so hard I cry, and is the only person I know that can actually shock me on rare occasion.  Usually with some craziness invoked on her by one of her many insane "friends".  I am glad we have built up a good phone relationship, because though I will miss visiting in person, we have the whole phone dump down to an art.  She is waiting to be a mom, just like me, and I am praying everyday that she will get a baby before I do, and that if nothing else should tell you how much I love Karen.  She is my blunt, in your face friend with the heart of gold, and the soul of an angel.

Now lest the rest of you are jealous, know that I love all of you too.  It is just that these three girls have been keeping me sane in the midst of this move.  With that said I have to give a shout out to my sister friend Kim.  I love you girl.  God knew what he was doing when he got you working up at Island in the Sky.  You are the best, I will love you forever.  And not for nothing, but I really appreciate the boxes.  You spoiled me with not having to pay for boxes for this move.  I know we haven't been able to spend as much time as we would like to hanging out this last couple of years, but never doubt that I love and appreciate the wonderful woman that you are.

So there it is, my tribute to some of the greatest women I know.  Nine more days until the move.  I alternate between ecstatic and terrified which means it is right.  And that is a very nice thought.