A Best Friend is the Sister You Choose for Yourself

I think all of you reading will agree with me that having a best friend is amazing.  I believe that best friends make life more fun and meaningful.  Having a best friend means knowing you will always have someone in your corner who has your back.  I not only have the most spectacular best friend, I've been blessed to call her my best friend for 24 years.  And truth be told, it is down right the most amazing friendship I have ever had.  I actually claim her as a sister.  Recently we coined a new phrase, "friesters".  Basically we're sister friends...not to be confused with sister wives. :)

Kim has been my rock since our freshman year.  As we sat in freshman science class we instantly connected and have been best friends since.  To say we've been through a lot together is an understatement.  Side-by-side we survived high school, blind dates (one in particular turned out pretty cool), a divorce (or as I like to call it my "I was trying to prove my dad wrong but proved him right" phase), a parent's death,  parents separation, kids growing up, kids moving out, planning a kid's wedding...and our most recent journey, the death of a spouse.

I will never forget that phone call.  The one from her in the wee hours of the morning telling me Jake had been murdered.  It took a minute to process what she was telling me, I think I was in denial to the words she was saying.  But once I processed what she said, I immediately jumped out of bed and headed to her house.

The last 3.5 weeks have been the toughest weeks of my life; I can't even begin to imagine what they've been like for her.  The first week or so there were mostly tears.  Don't get me wrong, there are still lots of tears; but now we are able to reflect on the incredible life Jake led and his beautiful legacy he left us, and we are able to smile again.  We are reminiscing about stories of Jake; thankfully many of the stories have pictures to go with them and we can't help but laugh (thank heavens for smart phones for allowing us so many photos!).   It was impossible to be pissed off when you were around Jake.  He had the ability to make everyone laugh.  Seriously, every.single.person.

I want to personally thank every person who has either donated to the YouCaring account, purchased a memorial shirt or window decal, brought over meals, prayed, or simply just sat and cried with us.  The list is too great to list individually, but you know who you are, and we are forever grateful for your love.  Jake was loved by thousands, literally.  And each of you have shown up in a big way, many offering financial help.  You may never know the impact your contribution has made, even if it was only a dollar.  Because of all of you, Kim has had a huge burden lifted from her.  Your contribution allowed her to take time off from work, without worrying about income.  It allowed her to not worry about money and to simply grieve the death of her soul mate and to focus on their little girl.  You may never realize the impact of your generosity to my bestie and her sweet daughter.

Take the time today to call your loved ones.  Don't just send them a text, call them. Or better yet, if they're close enough  for you to personally go visit them, do it.  Go see them and hug their neck.  And while you're visiting them, make sure to enjoy a little ice cream in honor of Jake.