AUTUMN LEAVES ON MY JOURNEY: Somepeople are so beautiful, Not just in looks, no...

AUTUMN LEAVES ON MY JOURNEY: Somepeople are so beautiful, Not just in looks, no...: Some people are so beautiful, Not just in looks, not just in what they say, but what they are. FRIENDSHIP…….. I feel that I have been o...

Some people are so beautiful, Not just in looks, not just in what they say, but what they are.

FRIENDSHIP……..

I feel that I have been one of those people who has been blessed to have met such a person, not once but twice in my life. They say if you have met one person you can call a true friend in your life time, you are blessed. I can say without hesitation, that I have had 2 such friends.

I met Judy when she was around 16 years old. She was a beautiful young girl with long blond hair and big blue eyes. She was popular in high school, a cheerleader and had an infectious laugh and smile. I was in my early 30’s and had 3 small children, a boy and 2 girls We lived in a smaller community where it was not uncommon to own horses and she owned one. I had volunteered to help with the Jr. Posse, a community run program to aid these young wanna bees for Barrel racing, pole bending and other competitive races. We did a lot of trail riding in the nearby mountains and camping overnight during the summer.  These kids were responsible for taking care of their own horse and bedding them down at night and seeing that they were taken to the creek to drink, teaching them to be responsible for not just themselves.

In her senior year, Judy’s life took a different turn and she became pregnant. She got married at the tender age of 17, it was then that we started to become lasting friends. Right from the beginning she was mature for her age, and never became negative or angry at her situation. She had been adopted at birth, and raised with good Christian values. We were not of the same faith, but it never became a problem with our relationship. Our kids grew up knowing and playing with each other and they were the best of friends also.

My life began to come unraveled when I became divorced from my husband. It was the darkest and the worse period of my life. She was there giving me positive advice and uplifting me when I got down on myself, taking care of my children when I needed to go out and look for  a job. We were like family to each other. I eventually met and married another man, my husband of today.

I moved to another town and never saw Judy very often, talking to her on the phone only periodically. We eventually lost contact as our lives went in different directions. 15 years had passed. One day as I happened to be in the same town where we met, I was in a bank doing some transactions, when the thought came to my mind that I needed to go and see Judy. I ignored the thought, the thought came to my mind the 2^nd time, and I ignored it again. But when the thought came to me the 3^rd time, I decided to go and see if she still lived in the same place.  I rang the doorbell and to my delight her husband came to the door, what a relief to know she still lived there. I asked her husband if Judy was home and he said yes she was. He then turned to me and asked me if I knew that Judy had cancer?  When I walked into her bedroom and saw her lying down on her bed, her long blond hair gone, she was thin as a rail but her eyes were still blazing with life. I stood at the foot of her bed and rubbed her feet and cried.  We talked and talked about her cancer, her kids, her grandkids, my kids, and grandchildren, we laughed, we cried. . She battled that cancer for the next 2 years with the courage of a lion. At times the pain was so excruciating she could not sit down to go to the bathroom.  I saw her often after that, my heart acing for my dear friend. Judy I miss you and loved your friendship. By having the courage to be herself she put something wonderful in the world that was not there before, I know she is with God and the Angels. Her husband and children were the love of her life. “I call her an “elect lady”.

I chose my theme of "AUTUMN LEAVES OF MY JOURNEY" because when you become older and more mature, each leaf represents a memory, value, insight, miracle or a magical moment.