Monday Memory- My Best Friend

(Preface- most personal histories cite accomplishments, events, dates, family members. But most often we leave out the feelings, the day to day memories, the things and people who made us laugh. Yep, we leave out the "heartbeat" of our lives.  My Best Friend was mine.)

Before, I met Travis I had my "first" best friend- Suzanne.  Our Stake President called Suzanne and I the Bobbsy Twins.  We both had brown eyes and blond hair.  We each came from families of 9- 7 children, a mom, and a dad. And of course there are our names- Suzanne and Amyanne.   As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, we were both first warders, our dads worked in the field of social work, and our mothers were school teachers.  We both grew up on "THE East" side of town We lived very much parallel lives.  We were inseparable through our late Elementary and middle school years.

A week ago today, Suzanne turned 40- June 16th.   To celebrate this date, she was  packing for her next  adventure with her three beautiful daughters and husband.  Suzanne's husband is in the military and they have traveled the world and lived in countless places jammed packed with adventure.  I, on the other hand, have traveled a "little" and have not left our hometown where all of the adventures of our youth transpired.  To say I miss her, is an understatement.

So I recount the memories:

Summers playing on Coal Creek- jumping from rock to rock
Backyard croquet
Good times in your playhouse
Hiking the mountain in your backyard
Boys' Cave Adventure with Danyale and April
Fall Adventures in the old barn on 1st East- hmm... I think we may have started a fire or two...
Roasting licorice over the fire near Coal Creek
Sunday evening walks with a pit stop at East Elementary
Girls Camp- skits, songs, testimony meetings- long talks with Jessica and Danyale
Ditching our older brothers: Cleve and Alan at the golf course - Indian writings- yeah right.  It was a long walk home.
Scaring the mailman - I think we may even have dumped water on him from the roof- oh my, where were our parents...
Mr. Greenhalgh's 5th grade- our pranks- his revenge, recess- soccer, baseball
Telephone booths on main street- 25 cent phone calls
6th grade- Mrs. Alderson-"What goes up must come down."
Walks home from middle school, after school stops at Cowley Drug, Twix  Bars, Sodas for 35 cents, Dorcus, Glennis, and the crabby red haired lady and then of course old man, "Lucky Strike"
Shopping in St. George with my mom while the Cedar Post was printed- it had a JC Penney's you know..
Halloween Night and the Spook Alley at the college- '50's girls and the scarecrow
Summer evening walks with a stop at Fernwood's for ice cream
6th grade Christmas- You got an amazing bike- I was so jealous- years later you told me it was a hand me down from Holly- We laughed and laughed about it
Middle School lunches- cinnamon rolls, ice cream and french fries- don't tell our children
High School football and basketball games on Friday nights- riding in the back of our station wagon on the way home playing "make me laugh."
Middle School track meets- records broken- new ones set- SALL
Trip to Carmel and San Francisco with Megan and her mom- amazing!
Iron County Fair rides
New Year's Eve Party at Megan's
Friday Night Purple Cows with Carrie
Orchestra class- Cellos and Josh Bonzo- the amazingly fun substitute, our gifts to Mrs. Larsen
Freshmen track trips with Lori and Lesli
Lunches in my Mom's classroom with the gang
Cross Country adventures
High School Student Government- Sophomore Sox Spree
Mr. Steffensen's office
Our first jobs at the Pizza Factory- cookie dough....
State Cross Country and State Track Meets- You were so fast!
AP English and DGB
High School "Grad" trip to California...
And then onto the real world- The funky college ward with "Dunbar", strange dates, etc. etc.  Then we both married- a year apart and our lives have been close but far away...

Suzanne,
You always made me laugh, You were my Fashion icon,  My life mentor, my best Friend.  Thank you for the smiles, the bushels of giggles, the countless adventures- I miss you!
Happy Belated Birthday!

Good Luck on your next Adventure!
God Speed!
Amyanne

Perhaps, in our 50's we can go on an adventure together.... and we can laugh again.