My Best Friend

My best friend moved right before Christmas and it is the hardest thing I've ever gone through. I've known her since I was two years old because our daddy's worked at the same place for a long time. She was a lot like me, yet different in many ways. We were gymnastics buddies for awhile, but that soon faded too. For a long time, I couldn't understand why she moved. Couldn't God have changed her heart here? Then I would still have her, she would still have me, and she could get closer to God. But God has His own ways that we don't understand, no matter how hard we try. Sometimes I even tried to pretend it didn't happen. I felt like Rob from The Tiger Rising, always keeping my suitcase shut tight. Because hey, if you didn't think about it, it's almost as if it didn't happen right? But keeping it closed doesn't make it go away. All it does is make it harder not to open it. Instead, I have to accept the fact that she's not here anymore. Now, as I make new friends, I'm almost hesitant, like when I'm feeding Clara peas (which she HATES) and applesauce (which she LOVES). Even after the peas are gone and she's only eating applesauce, she's holding back, as if at any second I might give her a bite of peas. That's how I was. I almost didn't want to make friends because anything could happen. Tomorrow I might find out that we're going to a different church, or one of my friends is moving. But we can't live our lives like that, because then we won't enjoy the time we have now. Below are some pictures of my half of our best friend necklace and some of me and her. The necklace was a present from me right before she moved.

I love you Haleigh!