Ang,
We met over 23 years ago in a little church in Newark Ohio. Josh was 9 and Jenna was 3. I recall many conversations after church ending with, “We should meet for lunch sometime.” It was 10 years later during our trip to the land of Israel that our friendship was truly born. When we returned from Israel we finally met for lunch and that was the first of countless lunches and meals shared together. Our friendship grew dearer and dearer to me with every passing year and at some point you became a sister to me, the older sister I had always wanted. We became like family! You have been such an important part of my world and I want to thank you ... As you would say so often, “To make a long story short...”
Thank you for... every phone call and conversation.
countless incredible homecooked meals.
every lunch out and for sharing food so we could try new things.
every haircut and color.
ordering the cheesecake in Israel.
every “dinner and a movie night” (poor Bill had to endure the chic flicks).
every Myrtle Beach vacation.
Thank you for sharing your 4 adorable monkeys Jacob, Julia, Audrianna, and Alex with me.
Thank you for sharing your dreams and ideas with me. I can still hear you saying, “Hey Jenara, I got an idea I want to run by you.”
Thank you for introducing me to Ann Taylor, Brios, BonVie, and french press coffee.
Thank you for believing in me and encouraging me. Your words always added courage and confidence to my heart.
Thank you for trusting me and being someone I could trust. I always felt so safe with you.
Thank you for forgiving me when I burned up your rainbow vacuum cleaner. I offered to repair or replace it but you knew that was beyond my budget and wouldn’t hear of it.
Thank you for every birthday gift and celebration (especially #50!) I remember one year we celebrated in Myrtle Beach and you sang to me in every restaurant all week ... Jacob who was 4 at the time thought I was getting a year older everytime you sang!!
Thank you for always making Christmas so special!! Your sausage gravy is still my favorite!
Thank you for being there and praying for me during one of the most challenging transitions in my life. Your love and support helped me navigate and find peace in the midst of the storm.
Thank you for allowing me to serve you during your journey these past several years.
Thank you for being so genuine and sincere, always willing to listen and share your wisdom without judgement or condemnation. Thank you for always being so understanding!
Thank you for always helping me to see “the other side” and for being so incredibly optimistic about everything.
Thank you for making me laugh when I wanted to cry! Hearing your laugh always made me smile!
Thank you for being such an amazing woman of God...for letting God love you and love through you in simple and ordinary ways yet with such extraordinary grace and selfless sincerity! Whether you were talking to one person or a room full of people, you always spoke honestly and directly from your heart and God used you and your words to add value to others. You truly were a motivational speaker!!!
Angie you are the older sister I always wanted and the best friend I could ever hope for! I love you so much and that will never change. You have simply changed residence. The day you moved to Heaven, Heaven became that much sweeter to me! My heart is saddened by your absence here but I have confidence that because of Jesus Christ we will be reunited again with all of our loved ones who have embraced Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Until that day I will continue to pursue the plan and purpose of God for my life with even greater determination, running my race here on this earth with joy...knowing that you are now in the great cloud of witnesses along with my dad cheering me on...saying, “you go girl!!”
