Reunion

Last night I spent some time with an old friend. We hadn't seen each other in years, and at our class reunion she showed up. We laughed together, we cried together, and we talked about the time that we'd missed out on over the past 10 years. She was the same as I always remembered, just grown up.

Part of me wishes I wouldn't have woken up. My dream was truly a blessing. I haven't had a dream that real feeling in a long long time. The problem is that when I woke up, I remembered the reality that it was only a dream.

Something happens when you lose someone close to you in your life. You never forget them, but as time goes on, the reality of them actually being gone is ever present, but slowly fades into the back of your mind and over the months and years, it gets easier to get out of bed, do the things you used to do together, and accept that you can't change anything that is already done.

Then there are days when you have a relapse, and they're all you can think about : your last conversation (boyfriends), last goodbye (class), regrets (too many to name).
You never forget where you were, what you were doing, and what you did after you find out the news when you're faced with a personal tragedy. At the time that my friend Mandy was killed in a car accident at 16 years old, I had just experienced the death of my dad 3 months earlier. I think that's part of the reason that I don't remember a lot about the week Mandy died. I've had friends remind me of events and gatherings we had before, during, and after the funeral and I remember very little.

Today, I don't know how any of us got through it. At the time I claimed that God was getting me through it, but honestly, I wasn't sure how much I believed it. Looking back now, I don't have any other explanation than it was my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who carried me through that year.

I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and give them joy for their sorrow.
Jeremiah 31:13

I can't help but be joyful for the short 10 years we knew each other. And more than that, I am overjoyed about the decision she made just weeks before she left this earth to make Jesus Christ the Lord of her life. This is where my true joy is, in the promise that she is with Him.



This is my favorite Mandy-Moo; the Mandy that played Nintendo 64 till midnight with me and danced around singing to Usher and Jewel albums.


Thank you Lord for my friend Mandy. Thank you for the friendship we shared and the joy she brought to my life.