Over the years I've tried to explain to my children how rare it is to truly have a "close" friend. Not very many come along in a lifetime, and when they do - you cherish it always.

In October of 1981 I found just that friend. Denise and I moved into our new neighborhood in Leesburg, young married girls with babies. I ran out of gas a couple of blocks from home one day and was walking back with the boys, when she pulled up beside me and offered us a ride. I recognized her from 2 doors down and accepted....and that was the start of an amazing 26 year journey. Not only did we raise our kids together....we laughed, we cried, we fought like sisters, we prayed, we supported each other thru unbelievable life obstacles...but thru it all, we maintained a love that could not be overthrown...

I like to remember the times when we would sit on our front porch, hour after hour, while our children played outside. Denise had such a sense of how life should be....and never shied away from voicing her opinion! If she didn't approve of a teacher's methods....look out - she told her...but then she'd get right in that classroom and work like a dog helping out....If a neighbor needed a meal - she was the first to cook one - and then arrange for everyone else to respond. Having a bad day?....Denise was there with a kind word - or would just take the kids for a while.
I saw her scramble to make house payments when her husband left...pulling together and organizing an in-home babysitting business to keep her at home with her own kids. She showed me how to shop for bargains (year after year after year - we travelled to Reading Pennsylvania to the outlets....some of the BEST days I've ever had!)...

When Lisa was born, and was so sick in the hospital with asthmatic bronchitis as a 5 month old - I sent Denise home to get some sleep, and, myself being 7 months pregnant with Valerie, climbed into the croup tent with Lisa and held her while she slept.....Our boys Tim & Mike - we put on a plane at age 12 to go off to Space Camp - nervous as can be - but glad that they had each other! When Lisa couldn't calm down as a colicky baby - Denise would run to my house - thrust her into Steve's arms - and flee....only to be frustrated that Lisa would immediately calm down with Steve's calming effect! There was the famous night, also, when she called, screaming in the phone, that something was IN her washing machine. Steve went running to her house - only to find a lovely, large green TOAD! (Maybe she should have kissed it - it might have been the Prince she was looking for!)

The funniest time EVER, though was surely the day we decided to take our city-raised kids to the country to see a farm. We had already introduced them to picking berries or apples, but Denise had found a farm that LET YOU MILK YOUR OWN COW! Well, well, that was just the thing that we HAD to do so our kids would grow up not missing out on good, solid values and hard work! So, off we went, 5 kids and 2 30-something women to Western Loudoun and some unsuspecting cow. We were shown to the barn, gathered the kids around us...and explaining where milk came from, placed a bucket under her udders, and each sat on either side of this poor cow and started pulling at her teats. Nothing happened. So we tried harder...still nothing. By now, the 5 kids (ages 18months, 2yrs, 3, 3 1/2 & 4) all started to wander off - scattering chickens and stepping in droppings....BUT, Denise and I could not leave Bessie, the cow. We had just started to get a trickle of milk....and suddenly realized that we couldn't just "stop" milking the poor cow! She (the cow) was in agony and getting restless...and our kids were running helter-skelter....And at that moment, Denise and I looked at each other - under the cow - and just about died laughing. It was truly a "Lucy and Ethel" moment.

As with any long-term relationship there were good times and bad. We had years where we were close, and then others where we drifted apart a bit - sometimes because we disagreed, but other times when life just got in the way. We always seemed to be able to be there for important days....birthdays, graduations, weddings. And Christmas. Even the year when Denise was SO mad at me that she hadn't spoken in 6 months...she showed up on my doorstep on Christmas Eve with her yearly batch of Cinnamon rolls. And once again, we were off and running - two peas in a pod just trying to get thru life.

In the past couple of years, Denise's physical and emotional challenges have really taken it's toll. I found that reaching out to her was not always accepted, but then a few days or weeks later, she'd call up - just like nothing had happened and we'd get together and talk like we always had. She had just challenged me to start working out with her to get healthier....and was looking forward to the arrival of her first grandchild this fall. So much excitement ahead....

Denise's faith in God has always been strong....with every single roadblock, she would look Heavenward and say, "He will get me thru"...or "It is God's will". And just like when Jesus told us in His sermon on the Mount, "Consider the Lilies of the field - they toil not, neither do they spin...but God in all his glory clothes them....how much more will He do for his children?" - Denise believed that God would ultimately take care of her. She was as fragile as a lily - offering a beauty of her own - All Denise ever truly believed in was Love. All she ever wanted was for people to love her. She gave to her children all of herself. They were her true pride and joy. I never, ever heard her say anything negative about them. She gave love to her friends. She gave, and gave, and gave....

It is truly my hope and belief and prayer that God is taking care of Denise today - with HIM in that beautiful field of lilies - where they toil not, neither do they spin....forever free from the pain of living here....but in his Glorious Heaven.

May you finally be at peace, Denise.