I know I've touched on this before, but I just responded to a post at Creative Crafts & Stickers and now I'm thinking about how much I love my friends.

The post involved the night that Laura's dad died. Now let me tell you about Laura. We joke that we met by me getting her in trouble and 10+ years later I still get her in trouble. It was 7th grade & I had just had surgery on my knee. I had crutches but I was too bratty to want to use them. Laura & I were in band class together, but we had never really talked. She had a few classes with my best friend Martha, so we had met before, but I didn't hang out with her yet at that point. Laura is a little person. She's about 4 feet tall. She has had more operations than I can even count. Her condition is similer to midgets, but with some differences. During middle school she got around the school in a 'scooter' and had crutches to use to get around once in the classroom. She can walk without the crutches, but they were there to help if needed. Anyways, back to band class. I wanted to go out to the hall & get some water, my teacher said I could only go if I would use the crutches...being the snob I was, I got up without my crutches & started to walk out, the teacher called me back & told me to get the crutches but I kept walking. Laura was sitting near the door & she got up to open it up for me. She later told me that she felt bad for me, I had this huge soft cast on my leg & she knew what it was like to not be able to get around easily. So she opened the door for me, me without crutches...and she got in trouble for letting me out when the teacher had said I couldn't go out. And that set the tone for our friendship. :)

Laura & I used to fight all the time, just stupid little spats. She was in the car with me & my mom the first time I drove after getting my learners permit. She was there when I made a left turn in front of traffic & my mom screamed, "Liza. Liza! LIZA!" Laura still calls me Liza Liza Liza. I've caused damage to her parents house... I backed out of their driveway & into the mailbox (and we quickly made up a story that a cat ran in front of the car & a dog ran behind the back of the car & I didn't know which way to go!), I pulled down one of those shop lights on the retractable cord in their garage & dented the hood of her mom's new Thuderbird, I threw a baseball for their dog to catch & broke the jewelery box that Laura's grandma had just given to her for Christmas. For years I thought her mom was a private investagter (I asked Laura where her mom was one day, she said at the airport & I asked why, Laura sarcastily told me that her mom was there cause she was a PI and she was watching people there...I belived her...for years.) I tied Lauras favorite childhood doll to a fan blade in her bedroom and nearly peed my pants when she walked in the room, turned on the light/fan & the doll began spinning around, hanging from the fan blade, tied on by her neck...according to Laura, that's the night I murdered 'Mandy'. My dog bit Laura's butt one day and I tried really hard not to laugh as my mom put ice on it. She used to have this little thing that had a claw on the bottom of it, to help her reach things up high or pick things up without having to bend...note that I said 'used to have'...I lost it somewhere along I-4...out of a car window...while trying to grab other cars as they drove by.... What is either the best or worst story of my friendship with Laura... I left her at Disney one day. She made me mad & I left her. I eventually went back & got her & drove her home, but not not til I got my point across. Yeah, that's right...I left her at Disney.

These are type of friendships I have. We fight, we cause trouble, we laugh & we cry. But no matter what, I've never once doubted that my friends will be there when I need them. And I will always be there for them when they need me.

That night in October, 3 years ago, Laura needed us. She was a daddy's girl to the core. And he was such an amazing man. He had Lukiema, but had been in remission the entire time I knew her. His Dr once told him he had never met someone who had been in remission for so long, he held out his hand & said, 'Hi. I'm Jimmie. Nice to meet you Doctor.' One night he said he was really tired. Within a month was in the hospital and he never came out. I had a baby at home & wasn't able to get out to the hospital to visit him, but anytime Laura needed to talk, I was there. When she called & told me that they were taking him off all the machines, I left work & drove as fast as I could. I stopped at McDonalds to grab us all some food on the way there & I was so upset that I hit one of the concrete poles in the drive-thru. We spent that night going between the family waiting room in ICU and his hospital room. When the time came, we went in the room, turned on his favorite Elivs CD and gathered around the bed. We weren't all realated, but we were all family. We all loved him, we were there for him, there for each other. I cried so hard that night. Cried so much that poor James had a soaked t-shirt by the end of the night. Cried so much that we all took one car back & spent the night at Laura's apartment, I wouldn't have been able to drive home on my own. The funeral....such a wonderful testament to the amazing life he lived. He was buried with a dog bone from their dogs, a hat with the logo of the company he started & ran for years, a softball from the game he loved so much, photos of his wife, photos of his daughters, photos of his family & friends...and with a photo of me, Laura, Martha & Kristina. He wasn't Mr. F to us, he was Daddy F. He was our daddy too. His best friend & neighbor of 22 years went up to speak about him and I still remember what he said... They asked me to talk about Jimmie. I tried to think about what I wanted to say about him, but how do you sum up 22 years of friendship in 2 minutes?
Those are the kind of friends I have...and that's why this post is so long. I can't ever sum up our friendship in 500 words or less...

If you read this far...thanks. Now go call your best friend & tell them you love them.