Tiny Roommate

Today I'm remembering my best friend.  Not that I don't remember her every other day but today marks 2 years since her passing and so it stands out, of course.  I went for a run this morning and pushed a little harder.  Because I am able to run and do all the activities I want. My body allows it.  Hers didn't.  I never fully understood what she went through.  Granted, I saw her breathing treatments and the medicines she took but it never fully registered to me just how sick she was.  Because that wasn't the whole of who she was.  She had cystic fibrosis and that was a huge part of her life, but she wasn't about to take that lying down.  In fact, Jennifer was one of the strongest people I've ever met. I mean this girl was tough.  She kept me going which is crazy because she had so much to deal with on her own.  And I wasn't the only one.  So many people relied on her, went to her for advice, trusted her.  She knew absolutely everything about me, which is a difficult feat.  And she always had fabulous advice.  She was my fashion go-to and my therapist when crazy college life got dramatic.  We lived together, worked together, went to church together (and managed not to hate each other!).  Although I wish we had been able to see each other more in those last couple of years, I can at least hold on to some amazing memories.  I made a trip down to Murray when she was living in those terrible college courts to see the Maroon 5 concert and we laughed as I struggled on the walk back in some awful, way too tall boots.  I'll never forget that crazy night with muffins in the rug.  Taking back as much food as we could from catering which we shoved into our 2 refrigerators (pretty sure that was against the rules in the residential colleges...).  Her whole milk and my skim together in those refrigerators.  Oh and the turkey sandwiches.  And bowls of cereal.  This girl could eat.  Sitting cross legged in her chair in those yellow short shorts, eating a bowl of cereal, watching Friends.  We made a crazy impromptu trip to Memphis one quick weekend, a trip that allowed her to marvel at some diving polar bears at the zoo.  I was there on her wedding day (after other fun bridesmaids-y events), a time I'll never forget.  She backed me and helped me through a struggle only time could heal, and it did, and she knew it would.  I swear she knew everything.  I joked that she knew things before I said them, or knew something was going to happen before it did.  She had that instinct.  So I think there was peace for her at the end. Maybe she stays a little flawless in my mind.  Sure, she had flaws, but I remember her as unwavering. She made me feel welcome, loved, like family. She was my "sister-friend,"  my tiny roommate, my confidant.  Everyday something reminds me of her and I still take as many opportunities as I can to talk about her.  I miss her today and everyday.