Just a lot on my mind

I've had a lot on my mind lately with classes, Christmas, and just random things going on. Life is so busy and sometimes I get so caught up in the mess of things going on that I forget to remember what's truly important. This time last year my best childhood friend was serving as a missionary in Yap where her life was taken from her. She would have been 22 tomorrow. When I was growing up and going to private school, Kirsten and I were best friends. We had sleepovers, spent our days outside at the beach (she lived on the water), camped in forts, raced down old dirt roads on bikes, went to junkyards -all kinds of crazy things. We had all kinds of fun.

Then in 6th grade I transferred to public school. We still hung out, but not as often since we lived 30 minutes away from each other. By the time I hit high school we only saw each other two or three times a year. By the time I started college we didn't even talk anymore. Then my sophomore year somehow we got reconnected. I can't remember if she contacted me or if I contacted her, but we started talking again. She went to school in Tennessee and I stayed in Virginia. We chatted a few times but we were both busy with our own lives. Then the August before my senior year of college, we chatted. I remember it in particular because it was the time she told me she was going to Yap. A few other things were thrown in, but I can't remember what.

That Thanksgiving break I heard about what happened. Believe it or not, I found out through facebook. The following week she was sent back and her funeral was shortly after. And even though we hadn't been close friends -or even good friends since we were younger, I cried. For days. And even now when I think about her, tears run down my face. I will never doubt the impact one person can have on so many people.

Food for thought: Life is too precious and unfairly too short to worry about the "should haves" of yesterday and the possibilities of tomorrow.

Rest peacefully Kirsten.