Remember when you and your friends rented a limo for the last day of 9th grade? And you felt SOOOO cool riding around the lakes...
Remember those high bangs you had in high school?
And the time your best friend and you went to wilderness camp and you couldn't use a curling iron to put up your bangs that high?
And remember that time you took German with your bestie, Jess, and you had an assignment to create a restaurant and serve your moms German food that you had NO IDEA how to make (and so you can then imagine what it tasted like.. ahem.) And you had to dress up in a white button up and red bowtie and black skirts. And remember how your moms wore their WEDDING DRESSES just to be uber fancy!
Don't forget the time you snuck up on the boys at the park, and someone in the cul-de-sac that required you to run and jump onto a lawn like a frog. You were the coolest. And so was she.
And how about the time you threw up on her carpet floor while having a sleepover and your mom sent your cool older brother to clean it up and walk you home.
This sweet girl has been with me through some really hard times, some really fun times, and some really crazy times.
I miss her so much since she's 600 miles away. I think what she wrote to me for my 18th birthday present sums it all up---
At the beginning of the summer I took the kids to Omaha. The weather there was U.N.B.E.L.I.E.V.A.B.L.E.
Because of a promise to my kids this summer that we would try and take a bike ride and/or walk everyday (when it's not too hot), we hopped into the van and went to the lake. It has a 3 mile walking/bike trail around it.
We brought bikes and roller blades, so we were good to go! About half way around the lake I started hearing whinny voices so we all agreed it was time to turn around. (Not sure they realized that it was just as far to keep going, but turning around seemed like the shorter way to go.)
It was the perfect, peaceful place to spend time with the kids. And, of course, they were excited about the promise of playing at the park when we got back to the car.
Another mom there was having trouble with her younger daughter who didn't want to go in the sand. Her older son was having fun playing with another kid. The mom looked at me and said, "You look like a trustworthy person. Would you watch my kids while I go to the bathroom?" WHAT?!?!?! What do you say to that? Um.... sure? And what do you know... her son got hurt while she was in the bathroom. Glad I look so trustworthy. I'm thinking I could have held it for a little while. But, I was glad to help another mother out.
Back at Mimi and Papa's house, Gracie did some stunts on her roller blades. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard with her. She would go up the hill to the end of the block. Then, turn around and go back down the hill toward the house. She would get going so fast that she had to start running in the grass to slow herself down to the stop. Here's how it went when I would try to take pictures. The way she was running across the grass just made me laugh so hard.
She is such a funny kid.
