Amy

This post is dedicated to my best friend Amy. The kind of friend you meet young, in our case the summer before 6th grade, and live next door to until you leave for college. She knows me as well as any one on earth. After years of not being in touch we can pick up the phone and talk as easily as if we had spoken the day before. Amy is petite and blushes. Her smile and sweet disposition made her popular with all social classes in school. She was smart and the cutest cheerleader on the squad.
The boys absolutely loved her. When we were sophomores in high school she had the most popular seniors falling all over themselves to be her boyfriend. And I was lucky enough to have her as my best friend.


Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer early fall of 07, a month or so before I was diagnosed. I remember the shock when I heard about her diagnosis and upcoming mastectomy and chemotherapy. In disbelief, I could not stop thinking about Amy and felt fear for her and what laid ahead. I couldn't imagine the world without her. Memories flooded into my mind of growing up together. She was the more outgoing of the two of us. She always included me in her plans and I depended on her graciousness when I was too selfconscious to invite myself along. We spent countless long summer days suntanning at the lake. Waitressing together at the Schoolhouse resturant on Flathead lake. Summer nights cruising mainstreet singing along to the Grease soundtrack. Sneaking out of slumber parties to roam the neighborhood until the wee hours of the morning. Doing backbends on the hill between our houses. Learning how to drive and putting dents in both ends of the station wagon perfecting our parallel parking skills. Looping a string between our house's decks so that we could write notes about what we were wearing to school the next day for the other to pull across and read.

Amy is married and has three beautiful, athletic girls. She was about a month ahead of me throughout our simultaneous treatment for cancer. When she was recovering from surgery and apprehensive about beginning chemo she unknowingly made me feel better about my diagnosis by forging ahead with bravery and a positive attitude. The carved courage angel she sent to me gave me courage when I badly needed it. A best friend knows what you need. I will treasure it forever.

Who could ever have guessed that we would be sharing such a journey, a sisterhood that neither of us would have chosen and that binds us now in ways that only those who have shared in it can really understand. Amy's last chemo treatment was March 5th. Congratulations Amy. I love you and miss you and am so proud of you.