A Tribute to a Friend

My friend Audrey:

Audrey was born on Flag Day, making her birthday easy to remember.

She came into my life when I was about 10 years old and she about six.

My first memory of Audrey was when I accompanied my Mom to help the kids in my sister's first grade class. Audrey told me that her Dad lived in heaven now.

Shortly after that she moved two houses down the street from me with her mother, Merivonne, and brothers Gregg and Scotty. She became my sister Katie's shadow, or Katie hers. Audrey spent many hours at our house.

I remember her coming up and telling us she was in trouble with her grandma. When asked why she replied "I called her an old scrub bucket".

Whenever there were happenings in the neighborhood Audrey was there. She accompanied us on many "monster hunts", playing Grey Wolf, and blind man walks.

I remember her going through a short phase where I was her punching bag.

I remember her little brother saying "Audrey, I know why you are fat. You ate too many cookies as a baby".

I remember her love of animals.

I remember her laugh.

I remember when we both had braces, one day we had both had it with our braces. We went to Ed's Supermarket and found the stickiest, most forbidden item, made our purchase and went home to indulge in our "Sugar Daddies".

I remember her joining us for family prayers.

I remember going for ice-cream to talk after someone tried to kiss her.

I remember sitting in a concert and being amazed at her beautiful deep voice as she sang "Castle on a Cloud."

I remember her sitting quietly on a folding chair in our dining room, watching us, then saying "Your family is weird"; we still frequently smile about that.

I remember her giddiness when she told me about this guy named Donavon, who she later married.

I remember being scared when she went into a diabetic coma. I remember being relieved when she woke up.

I remember going on a trip to the valley with her. We stopped twice because she was carsick. Both times while stopped someone found money along the side of the road; both times it was someone who had been sitting next to Audrey. We told her she was our good luck charm; everyone wanted to sit next to her.

I remember how excited she was that she was going to be a mom. I remember visiting her in the hospital once during her pregnancy. A priest came in and asked if we would like him to pray with us. Her Mom's reply was something to the effect of "we will take all the prayers we can get."

I remember her coming to my Sister Katie's wedding reception; she was always a quiet support.

I remember her bringing her new black lab puppy into the vet for it's vaccines with her son.

I remember the call I got that Audrey could not walk. I remember how discouraged she was about not being able to walk. I remember how much love for her I felt, and how I just wanted to give her a hug, and make it all better. I remember how happy I was to read her facebook update that she was going to be able to walk again.

My eyes filled with tears when I heard of her passing.

I remember her as my friend.

Thank you Audrey, for being you and for sharing you. You will be missed.