Tugs at My Heart

In May of last year, I wrote about my oldest friendship in Conroe going south. Well, her birthday is December 22nd and her anniversary is December 19th. And then there's Christmas. We always managed to get together sometime during the holidays. I tried to give her birthday gift seperate days away from celebrating Christmas. Last year, I tried to take her to Olive Garden, which she loves. She turned me down. I should have known something then, but shook it off.

Anyway, this Christmas holidays were a little emptier without her. I've always enjoyed going over while it's cold weather and sitting by the fire and drinking hot chocolate.

This Christmas brought even tougher things to deal with in the friendship category. While I was at my parents the Saturday before Christmas, (NOT enjoying the Saints game, I might add), my good friend Kathy was experiencing pain in her chest and spent that night in the ER. Not finding all this out until I got home, Monday morning. She ended up having a difibulator put in and going home on Christmas morning.

Now wait just a doggone minute, Lord. Please don't mess with this friendship. I have learned so much being her friend all these years. We have shed a good amount of tears and laughter. We became friends in church with Pioneer Girls. We got together for our kids birthdays and fun things. She's the one who hooked me up with Summer Family Bible Camp. I started going with the kids when Mary Ann was 5. That first year, she stayed with her Daddy, because the age wasn't until age 6. That pesky little rule said you had to turn 6 by Sept. 1st. She turned 6 in November. We were teachers and cabin counselors together. THAT'S for young people. No way could I do that now. We cleaned houses together and have a few humorous stories of our own. People knew that where you saw one, you'd soon see the other. Many people tried their hardest to figure we were kin to each other. Oh, did I not mention, her last name is Fuller, also? They'd guess mother-daughter, sisters, cousins. While we were at a Pioneer Girl Retreat, Mary Ann was looking for me, a lady told her "I don't know where your mom is but your grandma is just up the road in that cabin" Never even occurred to anyone that if we HAD been kin, it would have been by marriage. HA! Once, at a ladies retreat, we were asked to do a skit to the song "Sisters, Sisters". We had a blast.

Back to her condition:

She's still having some problems breathing and fatigue. There is fluid accumulated half way up around the left lung.She goes to lung specialist tomorrow. Hopefully to drain the fluid off. Please Lord, give the doctor wisdom to know what caused this. Others really depend on her to be around a while longer and Lord, she's my buddy. We've grown together in You, Lord. YOU are the reason we are such good buddies. Let me have her a while longer, please?