I used to love motorcycles...

I traveled down to south Florida in May of 2008, to visit one of the most amazing people living; Aaron. It was a month after my dad died so I was having a great time and then with the blink of an eye I was having a horrible time. I felt the best when I was on the back of his motorcycle. We drove around and the ocean breeze on my skin as we flew down the highway or on a road that ran parallel to the ocean was ah-maze-ing. I can't describe it. I guess if you like motorcycles you know what I'm trying to describe. All I know is that I was obsessed with getting one since that trip. I did a lot of thinking that year. About my dad, about loss, about life, about so many things. I thought about jumping on a bike and just riding, thinking about things with that wind at my face, more than it was probably healthy to. Of course since I never ended up buying a bike the feeling dwindled but I knew if I ever ended up on the back of a bike again that feeling would come back. I still get this feeling, kind of like that "going down the hill on a roller coaster" feeling in the pit of my stomach when I hear an engine rev by. I even used to have a saying "If I dated you and you had a bike, then you know why I dated you" lol of course that doesn't apply to A-ron :)


Tuesday night my best friend in the whole wide world called me and said "your best friend almost died today, like in real life." She had also gone down to Florida visit her stepfather, who is an avid Harley fan. He took her for a ride on the back of his bike and wrecked into a truck on the highway. She flew off the bike at 55 mph, flipped over the truck and went tumbling across the pavement. She said she couldn't be sure how many times she flipped and when she finally came to a stop she wasn't sure if she was still alive. When she realized she was she crawled to the side of the highway to her step-dad and waited for the ambulance, who was surely called by someone who saw the accident.


The good news in this story is that aside from her bruises, swelling, etc she was not majorly injured. No broken bones, no permanent damage. Her stepfather sustained more serious injuries but will be okay.


I was kind of in shock when she told me. I guess just glad she was okay. But when I really stopped to think about it, it really freaked me out. This is my very best friend in the world. She held my hand in the hospice room when my dad took his last breath. Every single detail of my life she knows. She knows me better than anyone in this world. Had she not been wearing a helmet she'd be dead. She FLEW off a motorcycle over a truck and flew across the pavement! I cannot imagine that happening to me. And she got herself up and crawled to the side of the road. I know she was scared but I know she is STRONG. I thank GOD she's okay. I wouldn't have been able to handle any other outcome. I feel that saying, you're only given what you can handle, and that must be true. Losing her would have killed me. So thank you daddy for watching over my bestest friend in the whole wide world. And thank you God for the reality check. You never ever know what tomorrow will bring. I'm becoming really good at not holding grudges, not holding onto dead weight and enjoying every second.


I think this sums it up "If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?"


Thank you Jenna for always being there for me no matter what. When I called you at 1am cause my dad was in the hospital and things weren't sounding good. You got up and went with me. You listen to every crazy story of what goes on in my life and you encourage me no matter what I choose to do. I've never had to second guess our friendship for a second, in the last 8, 9, 10 years. We've laughed and we've cried together and we've laughed until we cried. We've danced on the table in the middle of a cruise ship dining room with 1,500 people watching us shake what our mamma's gave us, had our own parking spot at vertigo, lived in my momma's basement together, we were the best damn shoe sales women Dillard's has ever seen, made Christmas snowflakes with paper and scissors while highly intoxicated, we carried out top secret missions in Gatlinburg and successfully made a grown man run screaming out into the woods from a perfectly safe cabin, we both recovered from our "Tony's," we've learned life's lessons together, and helped each other through them, we've encouraged each other and have never looked down on one another for silly decisions we might change if we could. This list could go on for days, but most importantly, we've made our father's proud. You ain't gettin' out of this life that easy! We still have to get married and have little babies at the same time and they'll grow up and fall in love with each other! We're gonna be old women, who sit and talk about old men. I love you Jennifer Grause forever and ever amen. You're the best woman I know :)

p.s. we should have a song, may I suggest :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY6xCYplIpk