Ten Years.

Ten years. I knew the day would come, but it came much quicker that I expected. Today is the tenth year I have been without my friend, Becky. It has now been longer that she has been gone than we were friends. That's a hard reality for me. We went to school together from my first/her second grade year all the way through college. But it wasn't until high school that I would say we were "friends." It's hard to be very good friends with someone in a different grade when you're in elementary school. When we were in college, we both started working as part-time tellers at First State Bank. This was when it was just First State Bank and not the FIRST STATE BANK of today. It was still a small town, locally owned bank, and we were all like family. We celebrated every birthday, every new baby, every graduation, and every new wedding. We had girls' nights, family nights, and game nights. It was such a fun place to work, and I feel so blessed to have worked there throughout my 4 years in college. I met some really great people, most of whom I still keep in contact with. Becky and I became especially close while working there. She knew that she wanted to pursue a career in banking, so she was networking the whole time. I remember very clearly the execs drooling on her graduation day, just chomping at the bit to steal her away from teller row. She was quickly promoted and was on her way up. Even though she was now in charge of the tellers, her demeanor never changed. I loved that about her. She was as sweet and gracious as ever. I will forever be grateful for that "bonus time" as I like to call it with her. We saw each other all the time outside of work, but the bank gave us a little extra girl time. After all these years, I have replayed every memory over and over and tried so hard to remember every detail about her. She always hated her hair, but it was beautiful. It always looked good. We went to the gym together to get ready for our weddings. I was always sweaty and red faced afterwards, and she always looked so sporty and cute. She had the biggest, most vibrant smile and always had perfect lipstick. I never saw her reapply lipstick, even on her wedding day. It never faded during the day, and that annoyed me to no end. She had a southern drawl that would give Paula Deen a run for her money, but she was in denial about it. We had plenty of laughs about it over the years, especially when customers would comment on it. The list goes on and on. She was such a special person with many, many friends, and even after 10 years, I still miss her like crazy.

Becky and David got married 9 months before Matt and me. We had been shopping for our bridesmaids dresses the day that Matt proposed to me. Talk about a memorable day! I wanted to wait to tell her until after I had my candle light a few nights later at sorority, but I couldn't stand it. When I flashed my ring to her, she was just as excited as me.

My wedding pictures are our last pictures together, and I treasure them so much. I wish so often that we had digital cameras then, because we loved taking pictures. The only ones I have of her are snapshots that I have to scan. We had the best time planning our weddings together. We often joked about how long you could be labeled a bride, because neither of us wanted to relinquish our titles. We agreed that the appropriate time was a year. It makes me smile knowing that she is the eternal bride, as she only got to celebrate her 11 month anniversary. I know she will give me a hard time about that when I see her again.

This is one of my very favorite pictures of her. It was taken on my last day of work at the bank. I was scheduled to run a teller window the entire day. When I got there, she was already set up in my spot. She knew that it was going to be an emotional day for me to leave, so she got permission to run my window that day, so I could take pictures and say my goodbyes. That's the kind of selfless friend she was.


http://http://youtu.be/2Ne3cz9eUsQ

This song is still hard for me to hear, but it sums up exactly how I feel. I wonder who she'd be today. Would she have her David Jr. or Olivia Anne? Would she and David have moved to Paris? So many questions left unanswered...

The only peace I have found is in Jeremiah 29:11 when the Lord declares, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you hope and a future." I know we will be reunited again one day, and I already feel bad for our neighbors in Heaven, because there will be 2 women talking and giggling non stop!