Angie

The girl in the middle is supposed to be Chrissy, not Michelle. I don't remember why she is in this picture against the bathroom wall in Blue Ridge Junior High. I have looked and looked and I can't find a picture with Angie, Chrissy and I. We were inseparable for a long time and I can find no photographic proof. You'll just have to take my word for it.

We moved to Arizona the summer before I started fourth grade. One of my Dad's previous bosses had asked him if he would be interested in managing a time share resort he had in the mountains of Arizona. When we got there, my Dad hired 2 secretaries to help him. Brenda and Juanita were the greatest! Juanita's kids were older. Her brother in law drove our bus. Brenda had 2 kids. Angie was my age and Tim was younger. It didn't take long for Angie and I to be close friends. Why her gorgeous self was okay hanging out with awkward me is still a mystery, I mean, look at that picture! But we loved each other and had a great time hanging around the pool and gym at the Roundhouse Resort and at school. We can talk later about how my definition of 'resort' probably means something smaller than yours. It was gorgeous up on our mountain and I miss it a lot!

Angie moved to Colorado at the beginning of high school and I moved to Utah during my Sophomore year. We used to write letters... on paper, in an envelope, with stamps and everything! Eventually, we lost track of each other. Why couldn't facebook have been invented earlier?!

When I was a young mom, my Mom got in touch with Brenda. That is when I found out that Angie had passed away, leaving a young son behind. Pretty soon, Brenda wasn't returning emails and I found out recently, she passed away only two and a half years after Angie. When Chrissy and I reunited on Facebook, I was the one she heard the news from. It was really hanging on me how we didn't know anything except that she had passed away several years ago. I felt like a little fire had been lit in side me and I really wanted to know more about my friend and find some closure. We Latter-Day Saints tend to have a penchant for family history, so I thought I would start there. Angie, Chrissy and I were all Christians who went to 3 different Churches. So, when I typed Angie's full name into the LDS records database, I didn't think she would be there. She was! I sat there staring at her name and dates and couldn't believe I had found her there! As it turns out, her Dad's family is LDS and someone had entered her in there and left their email address on the record. I emailed the address, explaining who I was and I am now in contact with one of her Dad's cousins. 

I begged for pictures of Angie. The cousin put me in touch with Angie's aunt, her Dad's sister. After a few technical glitches, we have been emailing back and forth and she sent me so many wonderful pictures! I will not share them here out of respect for the family, but seeing her happy and as a Mom has really sewn up my heart. There were lots of sad circumstances in her family, but she was loved and she was happy along the way. 

I am so grateful to wonderful family members that were willing to share with me. If you know me, you know I live my life guided almost solely by my heart. It has done my heart good to spend time finding out about such a good friend. Chrissy and I have had a lot of fun talking things over and remembering and looking at pictures. I am so glad that she is now at peace. No more debilitating headaches. I'm sure she misses her son. I can't wait to hear that her Temple work has been done.

I love you, Angie!