Day 45: Sarah

On October 10, 1974 my lifelong bestie was born.  I had been born about 6 weeks earlier.  Our parents had been in each other's weddings and were pregnant with us together.  I've got a picture of ours moms rubbing their very pregnant bellies together.  Sarah has known me longer than even my brothers, she was always more like my sister than my friend.  I called her parents Aunt and Uncle, still do actually.
The last time I saw Sarah was October 31, 2008.  A few days later she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which had been growing in her and poisoning her for an unknown length of time.  She passed from this life in December 2008.
Not a day goes by that Sarah doesn't cross my mind and heart.  While we hadn't lived in the same state together since we were 7 we were connected, she is a very important part of my life.  Some days I hear a song and it makes me think of her and I and I reach for my phone to text her.  And then I remember.  This happens often, I forget until I remember.  Along with the bittersweet of those moments I choose gratefulness for Sarah's life, even though it ended too soon - much too soon - and has left a hole in the lives of those she left behind.  I'm so grateful that I was able to share life with her, that I have memories of her that make my heart smile in the midst of missing her, that she and I shared in life's milestone moments together.  I miss her so much, I love her always.