Once Upon a Time

I couldn't find any pictures of Shannon, but on the right here is
her son Quinn who was Connor's friend!

I was a young mother who had just moved into a "new" house.  I had two little children and a good  husband who went to work Monday through Friday from 8ish until 5:30.  It was while I lived there that I met my friend Shannon.  What a blessing she has been!  We had so much fun!  We spent a lot of time on the phone, at each others houses, and off on adventures.  Us on adventures was a bit chaotic, but it was oh so much better than staying home all of the time!

Fast forward several years and Derek and I and our kids moved and I no longer could hop Shannon's fence to go and see her.  Still, I must have gone there enough that I sometimes found myself automatically pulling into her driveway instead of driving to Walmart, or Smith's or wherever I was supposed to go.

Fast forward more and we try to keep in touch but are busy with our families and so it is less frequent.  I no longer get to talk to her on the phone so much that my little kids say "Hi Shannon" when they use their pretend phones.  Then it is her turn to move - even farther away!  And then mine to move again!  Our families have mostly grown up.  She has quite a few more grandkids than I and is ever in demand because she is about the kindest person anywhere.

I still consider her one of my very best friends.  It is her that I called when Tia went into labor and I felt panicked because, having never actually had labor myself, I didn't know how afraid to be.  I needed her to talk me out of my panic, and she was very helpful.  She has been more like a sister than just a friend and people who knew us back when our kids are young are never surprised to find out that we are still friends.

Today is her birthday.  We will get around to going out to celebrate sometime.  Hopefully soon.  I am still extremely grateful to have Shannon as my friend.  I do not think my life would have looked nearly as good without her!  On a sad but funny note, I could not find one picture of her in my photos.  I would probably have to search old, old photo albums and then there still wouldn't be many.  I guess we are too busy visiting to ever snap any photos!  Maybe next time I see her I'll make that a priority!

Happy birthday to my friend.  I love her!