That Kind of Friend

Have you ever had that kind of friend who is such an integral part of your life that you take it for granted? Someone who you almost instantly had a bond with? For me, Lyn is that kind of friend. She has been there from almost the first day we moved into our house...she showed up with warm chocolate chip cookies for the guys who were working so hard. She cared about us from day one. What I didn't know that first day was that she was battling cancer and had been for 6 years. She would have never just come out and told me this because that is not what her life is about. I think because she knows her time here on earth is limited, she somehow lives "quicker", if that's possible. It didn't take us long to connect. I believe that we were meant to be not only neighbors, but friends. Late last summer, after starting yet another round of chemo, Lyn and her husband spent three full weeks at mom and dad's house in Florida. They had lots of different family member come and go and Lyn enjoyed every second of it. In her world, the hotter, the better. I have never heard Lyn complain once. She thoroughly enjoys every single day. She has gone through chemo, radiation and a bone marrow transplant. Since recovering from her bone marrow transplant, she has welcomed FOUR grandchilren into this world (her most recent being last month...a little girl with a GREAT name-Kassie!!). Last week Lyn went to the ER and they immediately sent her to the ER at the University. She has been in the ICU every since. High fevers, kidney issues, tumors on her spine are just a few of the issues. I am sad. I miss her. I cannot express in words how deeply I feel this sadness. Although I have only known her for a mere 21 months, I feel like she is part of my family. She has been waiting for my orange and yellow tulips to open and just Sunday they did. She may never get to see them again. I may never get to see HER again. I want to say goodbye. I want her to know what she has meant to me...what an inspiration she has been. I want her to know how important she has become to my kids and my husband. I will miss her knocking once and walking in saying, "I just wanted to catch up, I miss you!" I'll miss her asking me "Cassie, how do you do it?" while she is fighting this daily battle against this awful disease. I will miss seeing her mow the lawn in the summer in her do rag. I will miss looking out the window on a 100 degree day and seeing her laying on this blanket that looks like a piece of FOIL so she can get a good tan on both sides. I will miss her laugh. I will miss her unbelievable TACOS!! I will miss sitting by the baby pool with her in our backyard, filling up water balloons. I will miss sitting on the back step with her telling Brigg, Nalani, Jorden and Jaedon stories. I will miss so many things about her that I think I could fill my whole blog with a list. I just felt like I needed to get this down on paper. I am not giving up. Lyn is the biggest fighter I know. If anyone can get through this and make it back home, she can. I am SO hoping she gets home to see her beautiful tulips coming up. I am hoping she gets out of ICU and I get a chance to see her one more time. It still won't be enough to tell her what she means to me. Take a minute and let those kinds of friends in your life know what they mean to you. You never know when you might come home on a Tuesday with the news that you might not see them ever again in this world.