Repost - Favorite Peoples

Originally Posted: Jan 22, 2015

I love people. I have lots of favorite people because so many people have such special things to love about them. For some reason though too many of my most favoritest people don't get to be here long enough.

Mrs.Hoover, she was a dear kindred spirit. I have no memory of eating lunch in the high school cafeteria because I went every day to her classroom at lunchtime. She let me lay claim to her closet as a locker, and she taught me everything I needed to know about geometry, playing spades, and surviving high school. She was such a dear confidant...God knows I needed her friendship to forge through the high school years. I watched her fight her battle with cancer and was so heartbroken when she died my freshman year in college.

My aunt Mildred...I like to think I was made from the same stock of molds as she was. She was my favorite aunt when I was young because she never treated me like I was "just a kid." She gave me my first paying job as a babysitter, and she was such a kindred spirit. She was ever so practical and I think of her every time I see the roll of toilet paper in my trunk...I will never forget that she told me you should always have a roll in there, just in case. After watching her fight, I knew I would have to say goodbye to her too early, and I did. She died my first year in Morgantown after a seven-year battle with cancer.

And then my dear friend Amy Askey, died two years ago from cancer. She didn't really even get to battle it. When my twins were born I chose to co-mother with Amy. I left the twins with her at six weeks and she was with them almost every weekday for the next eight years. My kids loved her...they really had never known life without her. And when you see someone every day and trust your dearest possession in the world to them, a special bond forms. It was hard to say goodbye...

And today another sweet friend lost her battle. I've only known her for three years, but I'm pretty sure she had the best smile of all time. Even in her darkest hours, I'm sure Crystal Antoline Hanna smiled at people. She couldn't keep herself from smiling. And hers was such a genuine smile, that you always left her presence smiling too. It's just so sad she doesn't get to keep on smiling here.

And too many more of my friends have been touched or taken by cancer. I know I will have to say goodbye to another, far too soon. Sometimes I just don't understand it...but I sure am glad I have gotten to have each of them in my life for as long as I was allowed. They have made me a better person, have added sunshine to my life, and truly made marks on my soul forever. I can't wait to see them all again...