Celebrating my best friend

Happy 29th Birthday to my BFF!!

 Today is my bestest friend in the whole world Jenny's 29th birthday, thought I would tell you about this amazing gal who has been a part of my life for the last 17 years. Jenny and I met at First Baptist Church in 1995 and pretty much have been best friends ever since. Throw in my twin sister Kattrina and we are the three Amigos. We have been through almost all life's monuments together, have shed tears together, have picked each other up when one or the other falls, have looked each other straight in the face and told them how it was and have conquered some of life's most difficult moments together. 

In June of 1997, our youth group at First Baptist took a mission trip to Tecate, Mexico where we built 12ft by 12ft homes and taught Vacation Bible School to the children their.  We stayed a couple days in Southern California before heading into Tecate to put some finishing touches on what we would do while in Mexico. One evening while staying in a local YMCA, we had been playing games and basketball in the gym. We were in the locker rooms showering and freshening up when I noticed that one side of Jenny's face was bright red while the other was pale, her pupils were two different sizes and if you held her hands one was freezing and the other was burning up. I pointed this out to her and soon after we returned, Jenny was in the doctors office having blood drawn and test run to see what the issue was. In July, Jenny was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma cancer. A tumor was on top of her lung.  Jenny was getting ready to enter her freshman year at Cascade High School in September with this scary chapter ahead of her. I cannot remember any detail of when Jenny told us what the doctors had told her. (It's possible, I have blocked this from my memory) Over the next several months, Jenny underwent chemotherapy and stayed several nights and days at Children's Hospital in Seattle. I had a couple chances to visit her at Children's but after about 2 or 3 trips I had to be honest and tell Jenny I would see her at home when she was well enough to have visitors but that I would not be able to come to the  hospital anymore. I was emotionally drained after a day's visit. Seeing children with IV's in their heads riding bikes around the hospital was too much for me. (I can't help but think this was totally selfish of me but I know Jenny was so understanding and never once mentioned it) I would say the hardest part of it was that Jenny (even though she is 2 1/2 years younger than me) always took care of me like an older sister. Visiting Jenny was sometimes like visiting a very small child and I could not handle seeing her like that or having the roles reversed. I can recall a few late night calls from Cindy (Jenny's mom) letting us know that they were heading back to the hospital because she had caught some bug or was not doing well. Each time we hung up the phone, I would cry and say a little prayer.  I could not imagine being 17 and losing my best friend. Now some of you know Jenny well enough to know that she was not going down without a fight. She was so strong and stubborn and in January of 1999 was cleared of cancer and was in remission. Jenny had clear checks with every follow up appointment and now 13 years later, does not even have them done anymore. 

While all of the above seems totally depressing, we also had fun times throughout her treatment. Jenny was a recipient of several Make a Wish foundation wishes. I had the privilege of joining her on a couple of them and will never forget any of them! We rode in limos, had on ice seats to skate shows, ate at one of the most expensive restaurants in Seattle and had a day of unlimited games at Gameworks in Seattle. Jenny flew to Southern California where she met Howie Mandel and met and skated with Scott Hamilton. I was invited along on this trip but due to some severe anxiety issues I turned it down which to this day I regret! 

Despite the first two years of high school being spent in and out of the hospital and missing several days of school, Jenny graduated with her class on time in June of 2001. I am pretty sure I shed tears as my amazing friend walked across the stage. Jenny was in my wedding in March of 2002 (Yeah, this girl helped me go to the bathroom on my wedding day. That is dedication!)  and was present at the birth of my daughter Mykayla. She has been actively involved in both my children's lives ever since. And when I say actively, I mean cleaning up their puke (more than once), watching them overnight and attending annoying children's concerts (Think Wiggles!) with us even when she did not have children of her own. Jenny married her husband Travis (who coincidentally also had childhood cancer, diagnosed in 1989, remission in 1992 and was trained by my dad at Comcast several years before the two of them met) Their son Logan is celebrating his 2nd birthday next month. I blogged about him last year on his first birthday. He was born 8 weeks premature and spent several weeks in the NICU at UW before being transferred to Children's for two weeks. Logan was fortunately as stubborn as his mother and put up an awesome fight for his life! Today he is a happy, healthy little boy who is lucky enough to have Jenny for his mother.


Jenny-
Happy Birthday to my very special friend! Thanks for all you have done and continue to do for me and my family. You know this blog does not even begin to cover all you have done for me and been through with me. I love you and am so happy to call you my best friend. Here's to 17 more years!!
-Mae