the good ones always leave me but the greats stay forever...

I have come to terms with not getting too attached to people. Throughout my life, amazing people have walked in & out of it with no questions asked. I have a tendency to click with people very quickly. I'd say it is a curse and because of that, I do my best to not get too emotionally attached to other people. It has been said that I get along with just about anyone. If for any reason I don't like someone or can't stand them, that is on a very very rare occasion. I haven't quite come to understand God's great path in life for me. He brings amazing people into my life but without hesitation takes them away just as quickly as they came into my life. I can name many people who have impacted me for the greater good & made me want to be a better person but were so quickly removed from my life, that I question why I ever had the chance to know them.

I'm not saying death was what took them away. Usually it was school or work or life in general. It started with Shannon Stein...the first friend I ever had who was actually my age. We were friends for 2 solid, hilarious, adventurous years until her family moved away. Granted we reconnected recently via Facebook nearly 20 years later, but it was a disappointing reunion. I quickly realized that people mean more to me than I ever meant to them. There was Shannon Stigall in 5th grade, Starr Konkus in middle school, Stephanie & Tiffany something in middle school, Matt & Mandy Johnson in high school, several people at Best Buy, Lindsay Lowrey, Jessie B & Heather Wriscy in college. Then there was Mr Tavenaro & Lisa at Walgreens, Angela Simmons at Star 102, Talon, Jake & Trish at Blockbuster, Ginger & Heather at Platte Woods, Sarah from tech school...and the latest "moving on in life" tragedy...Meghan at Shoal Creek.

These are people I became very close to and/or respected greatly beyond words even if I never told them, always expecting them to be around. I take for granted the time I have spent with them, not realizing they would one day walk out of my life. I just assumed they would always be present, never looking far enough into the future to think their life path would change. But it does. We always talk about keeping in touch & still hanging out no matter what. However, we all know that never sticks for very long.

Yes many of us have kept in touch via social medias like Facebook, but a casual post on my wall or comment on my status is not the same as face to face laughter we so frequently enjoyed together in the past. But if it's all we will ever share together again, I will take it in a heartbeat & cherish it all the more!

I bring up those previous names of people I have had the pleasure of knowing, going to school with or working with because they were an elite group of individuals who truly made an impact on my life. Even if our time together was short, I am grateful for it nonetheless. Most recently, Meghan has left us at my current job. She has been a staple at our facility for a couple years now. As lodge manager, all the daycare, boarding & grooming dogs & cats know her...as do all their owners. To watch them all bid farewell to her the past few days has been a pleasure. To see the legacy one person has left behind by simply having been so passionate about their job, is an honor to witness. She is an insane life force I will never understand but will always admire & appreciate. Though her life's path is moving on to bigger & better things, we will all miss her more than words can express. She has been that "sun beam" for all of us in the darkest of days and the icing on the cake on the brightest of afternoons. When someone like Meghan leaves, you wonder how life can go on at work without them. We all know that it will but we refuse to accept that it can. She made each day memorable. From the gurney rides to the time she made up the poop & blood song & dance for me at my request. Mostly the numerous times she stalked me out of pure love. She threw boring overboard every day. No one can or will replace such a sweet spirit.

Now, as I reflect on those select few that I had to bid farewell to at some point in my life because our paths were no longer meant to cross, I am reminded of those that have always been around. The ones I will never shake free of and I hope I never will. I'm talking about the Kristin Nehers, Megan Pattons & Katrina Kaighens that will forever be in my life. I hope to never take for granted their friendships. Though their lives have changed drastically & they've all gotten married at some point, our friendships remain. They are more than friends, they are my family. Even though my heart breaks to think of the select few people in my past I have had to say goodbye to, my heart wells up with joy knowing I never have to say goodbye to those who mean the most to me. My cup runith over when I think of the love & support friends like them have given me over the many years I've known them. The laughter...oh my word, the laughter!! a few sentences can never sum up the life time we have spent together. And I hope there never comes a day were I have to sum it all up in a few words. Friends like those will be my maid of honor or write my eulogy or speak at my funeral & have to leave out the racy parts for the faint of heart. And I will love them all for it!! But haunt them if they ever go into too much detail! I hope that everyone has the chance to have people like Kristin & Katrina & Megan in their lives. It is an honor to know them all & a privilege to call them friends.

I have come to realized that in my life, I can count on one hand the number of people who are & will always be true friends. Everyone else will just be an acquaintance I have had pleasure of knowing at some point. That doesn't make anyone any less special. If you truly know me, you know that I am very hard to get rid of once we are friends. Family can never be forgotten...like it or not, I have a tendency to make friends apart of my personal family. Life is so much better surrounded by people who love you. People who believe in you. People who support you. People who would do anything for you...And that my friends, is what truly gets me through each day.