Sorry I have been MIA lately. A lot has been going on and it just seems that when I think that I am about to the surface, I get pulled back under once again. It isn't one thing, just different areas in my life all happening at once.
But today, it was hard. You see, my best friend died Sunday. Today we laid her to rest. Lee, oh excuse me, Leandra, has been through alot. (I have always called her Lee, but as she got older, she always corrected me and insisted I call her Leandra!)
Well, as I reflect on her funeral and burial today, all those memories of our life flooded back to me. I want you to know who this wonderful lady was and keep her memory alive. She was my first friend. We were born 3 months apart, in 1967, and she never let me forget that she was the oldest. That is until we started to get older, then she didn't want to think about her being the oldest. She was very competitive and liked being first. She got her car before me, her drivers license before me, she was married first and had her baby before me. She even was a memaw before me! She loved it and I loved that we had that little competition between us.
She loved nature and the outdoors. She would fish and hunt and always call me soft because I wouldn't shoot a shotgun. Well I admit it, I am soft. I don't want that bruise on my shoulder from the kick of the gun! I remember going to her house and she would be nursing some wild animals, like racoons or possums to health. She couldn't let a stray cat go hungry, so they all knew where to go. She loved her dog and cat, cesar and fat cat, I didn't like that dog, he was mean to me!
Growing up, we would have so many slumber parties, staying up all night, then trying to stay awake on Saturday mornings to watch Shawn Cassidy in the Hardy Boys mystery show! We would sing Dolly Parton songs, like Joellene, then later sing to ACDC and REO Speedwagon. And these were all by records or cassettes. You may have to google that if you don't know them!
She was the one that taught me how to parallel park. Well I don't think she taught me, because I struggled with it after her lessons!
Lee was full of life and didn't take and shit from anyone. She was a reckoning to be dealt with. Sometimes scary. Oh, wait, I just remembered something else and I can't help from laughing as I type. One day, (one of the many days when my family would go to her house to visit), we were outside at dusk by the street light. Yes, this was when we would stay out all day, then wait for our parents to holler at us to come inside. I think we were about 13 or 14 at this time. We were out there because of a really cute guy that lived in her neighborhood. He didn't know me and we thought we would play a trick on him. So she told him I was her cousin from a different country and I didn't speak English. OMG, we had him going and he believed us, that is that night. The next time we saw him, we had to tell him we were tricking him. Well, we never talked to him again. I guess he didn't like that!
We did get into a lot of trouble, especially when we were at our papaw Wix's pay lake. We would have water fights, and trash the bathrooms with water and papaw would get so mad. He would try to whoop us but we would just run away. That is until he told our parents and then we got in trouble AND had to clean it up!
I remember one time, we tried to trick grandma, and we went out to the cow pasture and took a dried cow patty and put it in our back pocket. We then walked around for a while with that in our back pocket to see how long grandma would notice it. Well, it didn't take her that long, and I can hear her now saying "get that out of the house!" She would try to be so serious but I know she was laughing after we ran out. She always joked and said that she was going to find us our husband and he would be a farmer just like papaw. Well that was not good, because we wanted someone like Andy Gibb!
I have so many more memories and I won't bore you with them. We talked about life and so many things. As she started to get sick, it was harder to talk with her. I could tell our relationship was not as close as before. But I know we loved each other. I know she had those same memories. I know when we talked or texted, she loved me and I loved her.
I am not saying goodbye, but saying see you soon. Because I know where she is. She is without pain, she is not laid up in the bed, but she is dancing and singing. And when it is my time to leave this earthly pit, I know that she will be there greeting me at heavens gate. With her beautiful long, red hair and her sassiness!
I leave you with this,
John 14:1: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me"
Revelation 21:4: ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Love to all,
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