Two Amazing Women

As the parents pack up the house to leave it for 18 months {oh, they are going to the Philippines to serve over the missionaries in the 17 missions there with mental issues, so fun!} something was discovered, I don't keep much.  I have two boxes {as opposed to my siblings' rooms full of boxes and pictures and keep sakes} ... just two.   I have my mission journals/notebooks with me.  Papa tells me that my boxes are just pictures and some tiny mementos of 'important' events.  I have my things here with me in Utah but likely I could carry everything I truly cared about out in two trips {even considering the weight limitations due to the broken back} ~ I'm just not attached to 'things' like others are. Words however, words are a much different story.

Included in one of those trips would be my wicker box of cards, not the blank cards I have organized by category, but rather the box filled with cards I have received ... Uncle's note to me while I was on the mission, Papa's sincere wishes from one year at girls camp and words of wisdom he has randomly sent over the years, a rare note from the Grandmother {she's more of a I'll-pray-for-you-morning-noon-and-night-but-please-don't-ask-for-written-word}.  When I got home from CA last night I quickly pulled the box out and found two notes, one from Britt and one from Sherrie.

From Britt, 'Strive to be better everyday. And just as the missionaries have companions, and the parents have credit cards, we have the Spirit and you never leave home without it. I am always here for you no matter what!' This was the girl that made it to the first act of my 8th grade production of Grease, knowing she and Ty would have to leave at intermission because of a basketball game already on the calendar.  This was the girl that reminded me, an anxious 14 year old, to stand tall and get involved the last few minutes before my first day as a freshman in High School in the Jones' living room, before we split seminary classes for the year.  And here I was, leaving my home and going to a place that was completely foreign to me because my parents decided to go help a fading aunt.  I'm certain even then I had a hard time expressing my heart ache and frustration.  But my friend, the one that let me tag along and had patience as I figured out how to talk to people I admired, knew that writing down the encouragement would work best for me.  The first year in Indiana I probably read that note on a weekly basis.  I remember calling, this is when long distance was still something parents paid for and took notice of on phone bills, Britt in Logan ... hearing her tell stories of college and counting down the days until it was my turn to be an 'adult'. Three years later I found myself down the street from Britt and Joe at USU.  When I hated it, and I did as change and I have rarely been friends initially, I found myself in their tiny apartment cutting out things for Britt's projects or watching some movie.  There she was, just as she said she would be, with chocolate chip cookies or pizza, laughter about the stupid boys, promises of the 'Joe' I would one day find, and the love of home.

From Sherrie, 'The world can't keep you down, you're a fighter and you change people's lives as you walk down your own path Sweet Kasi.' Sherrie was stuck with me in both Beehives and MiaMaids, making the change with me {the exact week} as I turned 14.  She kept us the night before youth conf each year, pampering us with pedicures and reminding us to be nice to one another while keeping a safe distance from the boys.  She drove us everywhere, Spice Girls and Zach accompanying us from place to place, in that white Suburban.  She was there the day I was told I was moving, to hear the dramatic 15 year old rant about how unfair the world was.  Sherrie was there when I 'ran' home after getting my drivers license, with cookies and open arms as I announced how much I hated Indiana.  Her words came in a card days after my Aunt passed away, I was still numb to it all.  It included more words, words of reality and words of hope to relinquish the pain to our Savior. She always reminded me of the woman inside, the one I couldn't quite see but she was certain was within me.  Before my mission I remember sitting in the office, as she typed a letter or email to Tyler in Chile, and talking about the adventure I was about to embark on.  She must have sensed my trepidation, the decision so fresh and the change so large, and so she bore humble testimony of the truth of the Work I was about to go and do, her eyes radiating the love and passion she had for it. And after my mission, returning to that house on Canterbury ... open arms, laughter, and love ... every time, no matter the hour, no matter the situation.  Even as I type this I can hear Sherrie's laugh as the banter and teasing go on around her and feel her love as she wraps her arms around me.

Sherrie was in an accident, go here to read the words of her loving and devout husband and adoring children as they keep all of her family and friends, and those friends of friends and family, updated.  As I read Brandon's words this evening I could not help but feel a bit more gratitude to have something to actually hold on to from these two amazing women of faith.

To Sherrie and Britt ~ together you make one of the strongest mother-daughter-duos on earth.  Your kindness and love, support and strength, sincerity and humor remind us all that life is ours, to be lived and enjoyed.  As I imagine you there together in Florida I do not doubt that there are angels standing near, keeping close watch while in awe of your love for one another and the faith that dwells within each of your hearts.  Keep fighting and know that I echo back your words to you now - the Spirit is with you always and the fight is within each of you.  I send my love, along with so many others {here and on the other side}, across the miles to you, my friends.