L.

While this blog is primarily for posts about my medical school adventures, my family, and food, I need to take a minute and write about a good friend that I lost last week.

Dear L.,

I know I should not be sad that you were called to be with our Lord last week.  But I'm sad that I never got to say goodbye and tell you how much you meant to me.  I don't know how you died, or whether you knew you were leaving this world, or whether you were able to say goodbye to your family.  But I do know that you passed away having lived a good, full, faithful life.  You set a wonderful example for anyone you met.  I look to your example and see how to be a good wife, a good mother, a good Christian.  You never complained about anything.  Your moral compass was always spot-on.  You always saw the positive in any situation.  You loved everyone, especially your family, and never hesitated to help anyone in need.

I remember the year we met.  I was a sophomore and you were a freshman in college.  We lived on the same floor of our dorm.  You were right across the hall.  I had crazy roommates so I spent a lot of time in your room.  We went shopping together.  We watched basketball together.  We partied together.  A lot.

We went to the mexican restaurant where you could get served a margarita without being carded.  Foolproof, we were told.  Just smile and order one and you'll get it.  But we were carded.  Probably because we looked like we weren't even old enough to drive.

We moved out of the dorms but still found time to be together.  I'll never forget our road trip to Yellowstone.  You might have been the smallest, but you were the toughest one of all four of us when we hiked.  My heart nearly stopped when you calmly pointed out fresh, still warm bear droppings on the trail.  One night we played pool in Bozeman, and I remember thinking about how I didn't really like playing pool but it's fun if you're playing with people you love.

I remember when you met "J".  You thought he could be "the one".  I thought you were crazy.  Then I met him and realized that you were right.

We graduated; first me, then you.  We became roommates, with real jobs and real responsibility.  You were a fantastic roommate.  There was never any drama, only friendship.  When your bathroom flooded we laughed about it together.  You didn't make fun of my cinnamon rolls that did not taste like cinnamon; you gladly ate them (after generously adding your own sprinkle of cinnamon on top).  I remember going shopping with you to pick out the perfect puppy.  Your dog liked to pull the buttons off my coats, but I liked to take him running and wear him out as payback.  When "J" came over, it was never awkward.  It never felt like "that boyfriend who is always there".  You both were like family to me.

I got married.  You were there with me every minute that day as my "personal attendant".  I will never forget that.  To this day, I wish I would have made you my maid of honor.  In retrospect, you deserved that title more than anyone I knew that day.

You got married.  I was one of your bridesmaids.  I was pregnant but I wasn't ready to tell you yet.  Thankfully, I still fit into my dress.  I will never forget when we went to get your hair done before the wedding.  I wanted to take a nice "after" picture and at the last minute you made a bridezilla face.  Typical.

After that, life got in the way of us spending time together, but you remained very special to me.  You transformed into something even more wonderful than I could have imagined when your first baby was born.  You were meant to be a mother.  And a wonderful one you were.

Neither one of us liked to talk on the phone, and the emails slowly dwindled into occasional Facebook posts.  I wish we could have had more playdates with the kids.  The dinners together were too few and far between.  In the last couple of years, I could have made more of an effort to see you.  Last year I drove through your town almost every week, but although I always thought of you, I never stopped to see you.  Most recently, we were only a short drive away from each other.  We were busy, but had I had any idea what was coming, I would have made more time for you.

You taught me so much about life and what it means to truly live with no regrets.  As I watch your sons grow into men, I'll see you in them.  And they will know the wonderful woman that you were.

Your friend always,
P.

Merry Christmas!

This song pretty much sums up Christmas for me.  It's my favorite Christmas song by far.  Especially when sung by Josh Groban.

Merry Christmas everyone!

O holy night!
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night
Of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appear'd and the soul felt His worth
A thrill of hope
The weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn!
Fall on your knees
Oh hear the angel voices
Oh night divine
Oh night when Christ was born
Oh night divine, oh night, oh night divine

Chains shall He break
For the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy
In grateful chorus raise we
Let all within us praise His holy name
Christ is the Lord, let ever ever praise Thee
Noël, Noël
Oh night, Oh night divine
Noël, Noël
Oh night, Oh night divine
Noël, Noël
Oh, oh night, oh night divine

Update On All Things Med School and Mommy

So, two months later after I posted about posting more often.......

It's December.  I just finished my last systems-based module in school, Blood and Lymph (with a personal best grade!  Woo hoo!), and began the first of a series of modules designed to help us transition from the didactic to clinical years of our training.  The current module, "Medicine Across the Lifespan", tackles the differences in treating special populations such as the elderly and children.  While it has been interesting and VERY relevant (did you know the fastest growing demographic in the US is people over the age of 85?), truthfully, it's been really hard to focus.  I still feel slightly drained from the last two modules and am feeling the stress and anticipation of Christmas.

I also had a chance to do some shadowing.  A previous module, Brain and Behavior, sparked my interest in neurology, so I shadowed one of the neurologists who taught us for a couple of days.  It was an amazingly interesting experience, and I have definitely added neurology to my list of specialties I'm interested in.

The kids are excited as ever for Christmas.  As we usually do, we managed to do all of their shopping on Black Friday.  Although this year we were not out buying toys at 5 am, we did manage to snag some great deals.  The crowning glory is a swingset.  My husband was originally planning to build one for the kids, but we found a great deal on one so we went ahead and purchased one for them.  I can't wait to see the looks on their faces!

The baby is hardly a baby anymore.  He's trying so hard to keep up with his big brother and sister.  I'm pretty sure he's going to skip crawling altogether and go straight to walking.  He's already much bigger than his siblings were at his age (meaning, he's of normal height and weight for his age).

My older son has hit that special point in every boy's life.  You know, the one where he wants drums for Christmas.  And he will tell every Santa he can find that he needs drums.  Santa is definitely not bringing drums this year, so I hope that does not crush his precious little heart.  I'm sure the swing set will make him forget all about drums... for now.

My daughter has a better grasp than ever on the true meaning of Christmas.  I think for the first year she is realizing that it's not all about presents and that there are plenty of people out there who won't have presents or even food to eat on Christmas.  She definitely still wants presents, don't get me wrong.  But perhaps when she is a little older we can begin a new tradition of celebrating the birth of Jesus by helping those who need God's love the most rather than solely with gifts.