For those of you that follow along with our week in and week out over here at Made with HAPPY, I have to apologize for the long delay in posting this Summer. Summer does tend to slow down in terms of posts while the kids are home and all time consuming, but an unfortunate event happened in the middle of this Summer that has sort of stopped me in my tracks. A month ago, I lost my soul sister, my very best friend, Jennifer to cancer.She fought a crazy hard battle. She did it with grace, humility, strength and bravery. She was diagnosed more than 8 years ago, which is a long time when you hear of cancer fights. But in the grand scheme of life, it seems like a blink to me and I keep shaking my head that this has not happened.
I've been asked a lot about how I'm doing. How I'm holding up, and the truth is, I am carrying on (as she would have demanded I do) but there is huge hole in my heart. The wound is fresh, it is raw and there are days when I'm struggling harder than others. Daily, I think about her son and her parents and pray for them. While I know this is hard on me, my heart only hurts more thinking of their pain.
While there is NO FREAKING WAY to fully express how much this woman means to me, I had this need to write something down. Not only to let you all know where I've been, but mostly to make sure the love and memory of this incredible woman is not lost.
Jennifer has been by my side for the past 30 plus years. Every event big or small. Every celebration, heartbreak, job, surgery, house, baby, wedding and small moments in between, we have been together.
My heart aches when I think of having new memories without her. It cringes when I read saying or funny memes about best friend, and I cry when I pick up the phone to text her. I know that its happening, but my heart hurts. My faith has helped in reminding me that she is no longer in pain. She is no longer battling. She is in Heaven and looking down with a smile.
As I work through the grief in hopes of getting back to all the MADE WITH HAPPY awesomeness, I thought I would share some pictures of us through the years. Someday, I hope to share some stories and memories, but for now, enjoy the pictures of the love story that is Jen and Alli.
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