I've been friends with Sarah for nearly five years now. She's been an amazing source of support and strength in my life. Even when I pushed everyone away after my dad passed a few years ago, she was still there.... she still told me she would be there whenever I was ready to talk. And she was.
She never gave up, and she never let a day go by without letting me know that I would be okay and that she would be there for me.
Recently, her husband had to move thousands of miles away, and they are navigating their now long-distance relationship. Not only that, but she's also had to take charge of her family in order to help her mother, as well as her brother who is autistic.
We don't live anywhere near each other. She's in Chicago, I'm in Dallas. The only way I knew how to really show her I cared was to write... so I did. I sent her two Christmas cards this past year, one of them contained my giving key which I'd purchased last year. My giving key made life bearable because I could look down at that key dangling from my neck and know that in some way, I made someone else's life better. I knew that the word that was staring back at me, "Strength," was all I needed. It is okay to just get through the day sometimes, to just have enough strength to keep going one day at a time. I hoped that my words and that same key would be some comfort to Sarah when we were miles apart.
I'm finally going to get to hang out with her this summer when I go to Chicago. I can't wait to give her a huge hug.
I love my best friend. She is a beautiful girl, inside and out. I hope she always remembers to keep her head up and have strength.
-Erica
