I Get By with a Little Help from my FRIENDS!

This morning I was watching Cold Case files (for no particular reason except that Lifetime all but stopped showing sappy movies and now plays crappy sitcoms all day) and as I was watching, I started thinking about the few days that followed my dad's death. It is such a traumatic experience to lose someone you care about, especially a parent you are so close to, and especially in such an unexpected way. When I think back to losing him, which was just 2 years ago, I am reminded of how amazing God is. He placed me in the middle of the busiest season of my life-friendwise-that I had ever been in. I was living with 2 great friends of mine, and we always had people over at the house. Some of them girls I had known since I was a baby because our parents grew up together. Others were new friends who were just as amazing as our old ones. And then we had a faithful group of guys we hung around, who are like brothers to me!

When I got the news that my dad had died, my friend and roomate Lindsey Coker immediately left work and came home to comfort me. My lifelong friend Lindsey Hawkins also came over, and both girls went to my grandparent's house with me, where the family was gathering. Coker and I were growing closer by the day having been roomates at the time and all, but Hawkins and I were not as close as we were when we were younger due to just, what happens when you grow up! But on this occasion, it was like I was 10 years old again and reaching out to my best friend, and she was there. They both were.

That night, another lifelong friend of ours Katie Spencer came to the house to love on me. Ashlynn and Carissa and so many others, including their mothers, came to the house to visit and to show their sympathies. They made food and brought me a sleepaid, and were really just, angels. I can't remember who passed through those days and nights, but everyone who was there, helped keep me afloat-and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I don't know if it was the night he died, or after, or maybe the funeral...but at some point in the chaos and sadness, I was laying in bed, surrounded by my angels. Dillan and Katie and the Lindseys and Stimpy and so many others. They were there to ensure I got a good night's sleep. I would dose off and wake up minutes or hours later, and they were all still there, talking or dozing off too, or watching me to make sure I was ok. I guess at some point in the night, people trickeled out of the room, and when I awoke I was wrapped in the arms of Katie and Dillan. And as I started crying, remembering I was now fatherless, both still half-asleep, they hugged me so tight and lulled me back to sleep.

I will never forget the many nights I couldn't sleep, I didn't want to sleep, I was scared if I fell asleep then I would wakeup and the hurt would start all over again. And it did. But Coker was there for me. She stayed up with me til all hours of the early morning and late night, even with a small son, a job, and school to worry about for herself. Me and my dog slept were welcomed into her bed with her and her dog many a sleepless night. She was there for me, like good angels should be.

I had many visitors, Matt and Brandon and Kelsey and so so many others. I had many phone calls, Cindy and Becky and Amber and so so many others. I had LOVE. I was so surrounded by LOVE from family and friends that I felt surrounded by GOD'S love, even though I was not a "Christian" then. I knew I was not alone in this awful period of my life.

I can never thank these angels enough, for being there for me when I needed them the most. I hope those of them who are reading this know I will ALWAYS be there for them too, if EVER they need a shoulder to cry on, a friend to listen to them, or someone to pray over them. I am indebted to these amazing people, some of you I have lost touch with, and some of you I am still best friends with. Whoever you are, I LOVE YOU, and you and your acts of love for me will forever be in my heart and in my mind and in my memory. You will never be forgotten.

In Him,
Meg