Thank you #1: Amanda

This girl doesn’t cry. I met her in 1999, and I had never seen her cry. She’s a rock.

But then one day last May, I called her and shared some news. And for the first time in our 13-year friendship, I heard her tears. 

I called my best friend Amanda, who lives about two hours away, to tell her that I had found a lump and that I was going for tests.  She was at my door the next day.

A few weeks later, I called to tell her that the chemo was working and my hair was falling out. I told her that I’d be shaving my head that night. I never had to ask - within two hours, she was at my door, holding my hands while the clippers started doing their job. She hugged me tight when I didn’t have the strength to look in the mirror at my face. She told me I looked awesome.

She visited a few times throughout the summer to keep me company. We shopped. We watched reruns of 90210 – the original one, of course. We bought canvases and paint, and over a few glasses of wine painted some artwork for a spare bedroom. We got Subway. We shopped. Oh, did I already mention that?

In August, when I was hospitalized for an infection, she thought nothing of hopping in the car, just for a surprise “afternoon visit,” and she even included a cup of my favorite coffee from Starbucks. (A tall, decaf, white mocha for the record. Only a true friend knows your exact Starbucks order.)

She took the day off work in October to be at my side for my last chemo treatment. She was there beside me when I rang the bell, signifying the end of that portion of my journey. The tears were flowing from all of us that day. 

In March, she crossed the finish line with me as I completed my first half marathon. She cheered me on, pulled me along, and we cried together when it was all over. She got us matching Bon Jovi-inspired shirts.

Nearly five years ago, I had the privilege of giving the matron of honor speech at her wedding. I shared to a group of guests that when I thought of Amanda, the word “rescue” came to my mind. I rattled off a list of times when she had come to my rescue through the years of our friendship: When I had the flu in college, she drove me to school. When I moved home, she single-handedly dissembled my monstrous-sized desk and lugged it downstairs by herself to the moving truck. When I needed to get out of my dorm room, her door was always open. When it was time to paint my first baby’s nursery, she helped tape off the lines. When it was time to throw a baby shower, she planned the whole thing. 

Little did I know what this last year would bring and just how she would come to my rescue - time and time again. She’s the most loyal, true, and loving friend a girl could ask for, and I’m blessed to call her “my friend.”