me as "Birdie Seed" |
Jen as "Emmaline" (center stage) |
One of those friendships was with Jennifer. She was a year older than me. We cheered together. We acted together. She, too, had a role in the play as my daughter, Emmaline. We were Catholic together. And we laughed together. A lot. I loved hanging out with Jennifer.
Unfortunately, we lost track of each other. She graduated and went off to college. I had another year of high school to complete and we didn't stay connected.
About six years ago, I was having lunch with a friend at a local restaurant and Jennifer came over to my table. It was great to see her but I was in a wheelchair and had a service dog now. I felt odd. Did she know my story? We exchanged pleasantries, laughed away the awkwardness and she left. I thought it would be rare to ever see her again. Then, the week before Christmas this year, Jen messaged me on Facebook and told me she has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and would like to get together. Gulp.
Now we're doing hard together.
We made plans for this Saturday. When we met up, it was as if we were going to cheer and have rehearsal for the play. Twenty three years have passed. Life has been lived. A lot of it. There were stories to tell. A lot of them. And this brain tumor.
"Excuse me", one of the girls said to Jen,"we're from Hope College and we were wondering if there is something you are facing that we can pray about?"
WHAT???!!
I looked up from my salad and looked at Jen. I need to be honest and tell you my cynicism kicked in. This is weird, I thought to myself but I'll play along. Not knowing if Jen would want to share, I looked at her and said, "Are you okay with telling them?" "Absolutely!" She proceeded to introduce us and told them we were good friends in high school but we haven't gotten together in over 20 years. She said she has been recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. "Holly has a diagnosis of Freidriech's Ataxia and I wanted to get together with her. So here we are!"
"Why us?" I asked. One of the girls pulled out a piece of paper and showed us what she had written on it. "We were at the school asking God who He wanted us to pray for and encourage. For some reason, I wrote the name Jenny. Do people call you Jenny?" she looked up at Jen.
Jen laughed, nodded and said, "Yea! So why did you come here?"
The other girl sheepishly got her paper out and said she kept sensing the word 'pie'. "The only thing we could think was that He wanted us to go to Crane's."
This was bizarre but my heart was softening and my eyes growing a bit misty. "Can we get our friends who came with us and pray for you?" one of the smiley, soft- spoken girl asked.
Jen welcomed them over and we made introductions again. One of the girls shared our story to the other two friends and the guy who joined us quietly said, "He just showed me a blond girl so that's why we came over here." Jen invited him to sit at our table and he did so with his piece of paper.
By this time, I had full blown tears. Those four college students surrounded us with such love as they prayed words of God's grace and healing over our lives. I thanked them for their courage and asked them if they were nervous to approach us. "You have no idea!" one of the girls replied.
And she's spot-on. I have no idea.
Twenty four years ago "Birdie Seed" and "Emmaline" had no idea what "they" were going to face. But He did. And He chose to remind us that He knows what Jen and I are facing. He does. He was with us back then, He is with us now and He will be with us in the future.
May I never forget that.
A selfie with our new friends |