"Time keeps no measure when true friends are parted, no record day by day; the sands move not for those who, loyal-hearted, friendship's firm laws obey."
My second friend on the list of those who help me "limp along" is my buddy, Heather, a.k.a. "Heddie". I can see her covering her mouth with her hand and saying, "Oh my gosh!" when she reads this. When Heather and I became friends, I was 6 years old, the new preacher's kid and extremely shy. Lucky for me, Heddie was shy too. We were two shy little girls who quickly became best buds. It's hard for me to say exactly when I knew that Heddie would be a friend for life...
When we were in elementary school, Heddie and I were in the same 4th and 5th grade class. When we left Montainview Elementary, we were both homeschooled. We spent almost every weekend together. We were completely obsessed with New Kids on the Block and I was completely jealous of Heddie's memorabilia. She had every t-shirt, every poster, every video tape...I wasn't allowed to partake in such things and I considered her quite lucky. After that phase, we moved onto other things: the Grease movies, TLC, Gone With The Wind, Boyz II Men, and baseball. Yep, baseball. You may think 2 pre-teen girls would have no affection for anything sports related, but let me tell you, we were super fans. The Texas Rangers became our new obsession.
Spending another Friday night at Heddie's house, she talked me into watching a game. She had always been a fan, but I never gave it much thought. As soon as I realized what I had been missing, I was hooked. Of course, cute guys in uniforms didn't hurt...hey, I'm just being honest :) Pudge Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, Jose Canseco, Dean Palmer, Rusty Greer, Will Clark...we cheered them on and never missed a game. Some of my favorite memories were spent at The Ballpark in Arlington with Heddie and her family. I still laugh when I remember all of us crammed into their light blue Toyota Camry. Heddie would yell about turning the a/c on before the car was even started and Scott (her younger brother) would complain that he had no room. He was probably drumming on the back of the seat the whole time, too...he always carried drum sticks around. Heddie's mom, Carol, had the most contagious laugh and her dad, Randy, only called me "Rebecka" as soon as he found out what my first name was. Ah, those were good times.
We spent alot of time with Heddie's grandparents. She had a cranky grandfather, but I had one of those too, so he didn't bother me. She had the sweetest grandmother who cooked awesome food and let me sleep in her awesome bed when we stayed over night in Dallas. I don't think anyone will ever mean more to Heddie than her Mimi. Heather adored her and she adored Heather. I will be forever grateful to Heddie's family for the way they loved me. I still consider them like my 2nd family and miss them terribly.
When we moved from Waco, Heddie wrote me a letter almost every week and when we finally got AOL she was the my first IM chat. I stayed with her every summer we went back to visit and she flew stand-by twice to come see me. Even though we have been separated by many miles for 15 years now, we still text each other almost everyday. Every time we make a trip to Arkansas to see my grandparents, we always stop in Mississippi to see my buddy.
So, to my buddy, I say thank you. Thank you for being the most loyal friend from the moment we met. You have loved me, stood by me, laughed with me, and daydreamed with me. You've shared the good and the bad. We've had our ups and downs, but we've never stopped being besties. I cherish every one of our stories and can't wait til my girls are old enough to appreciate them. Watching baseball isn't the same without you and one of these days I will get you to O-town to see NKOTB with me. :) I love you!
Proverbs 18:24
Heddie and I in the COTR Christmas play...don't remember what year :)
Me and Heddie sitting in the Rangers dugout on our tour of The Ballpark in Arlington
Me and Heddie, ROCK Conference 1997
When we were in elementary school, Heddie and I were in the same 4th and 5th grade class. When we left Montainview Elementary, we were both homeschooled. We spent almost every weekend together. We were completely obsessed with New Kids on the Block and I was completely jealous of Heddie's memorabilia. She had every t-shirt, every poster, every video tape...I wasn't allowed to partake in such things and I considered her quite lucky. After that phase, we moved onto other things: the Grease movies, TLC, Gone With The Wind, Boyz II Men, and baseball. Yep, baseball. You may think 2 pre-teen girls would have no affection for anything sports related, but let me tell you, we were super fans. The Texas Rangers became our new obsession.
Spending another Friday night at Heddie's house, she talked me into watching a game. She had always been a fan, but I never gave it much thought. As soon as I realized what I had been missing, I was hooked. Of course, cute guys in uniforms didn't hurt...hey, I'm just being honest :) Pudge Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, Jose Canseco, Dean Palmer, Rusty Greer, Will Clark...we cheered them on and never missed a game. Some of my favorite memories were spent at The Ballpark in Arlington with Heddie and her family. I still laugh when I remember all of us crammed into their light blue Toyota Camry. Heddie would yell about turning the a/c on before the car was even started and Scott (her younger brother) would complain that he had no room. He was probably drumming on the back of the seat the whole time, too...he always carried drum sticks around. Heddie's mom, Carol, had the most contagious laugh and her dad, Randy, only called me "Rebecka" as soon as he found out what my first name was. Ah, those were good times.
We spent alot of time with Heddie's grandparents. She had a cranky grandfather, but I had one of those too, so he didn't bother me. She had the sweetest grandmother who cooked awesome food and let me sleep in her awesome bed when we stayed over night in Dallas. I don't think anyone will ever mean more to Heddie than her Mimi. Heather adored her and she adored Heather. I will be forever grateful to Heddie's family for the way they loved me. I still consider them like my 2nd family and miss them terribly.
When we moved from Waco, Heddie wrote me a letter almost every week and when we finally got AOL she was the my first IM chat. I stayed with her every summer we went back to visit and she flew stand-by twice to come see me. Even though we have been separated by many miles for 15 years now, we still text each other almost everyday. Every time we make a trip to Arkansas to see my grandparents, we always stop in Mississippi to see my buddy.
So, to my buddy, I say thank you. Thank you for being the most loyal friend from the moment we met. You have loved me, stood by me, laughed with me, and daydreamed with me. You've shared the good and the bad. We've had our ups and downs, but we've never stopped being besties. I cherish every one of our stories and can't wait til my girls are old enough to appreciate them. Watching baseball isn't the same without you and one of these days I will get you to O-town to see NKOTB with me. :) I love you!
Proverbs 18:24
Summer 2010
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