flashback

Today you are going to be treated to a few pictures of me when I was younger.  It's unfortunate that you get to see these, actually.  I had to dig through my photo albums this week to find some pictures of a childhood friend for a video her sister was making for her funeral.  Jill was actually born on the exact same day as me, so we sometimes shared birthdays and always had a lot of fun together.  We spent a lot of time together in junior high, but had different friend groups in high school.   Here are a few of the pictures I found of the two of us...   This one is at my 10th birthday party.  I'm the one in the sweet glasses in back.  My sister, Katie, is on the far left!  Jill is in the front of the picture in the yellow tshirt. 

 My 11th birthday party.  Me in the back with glasses.  Jill on the left and Katie in the front of the picture. 

 Me & Jill

 At camp with friends... Kyra in the back left.  Kathy is in front with the blue tshirt.  We've been friends since preschool and she continues to be my best friend today!  She is one of those friends that I may not see for a few months and then when we get together it's like we've never missed a beat.  Love that woman!!  Jill is on the far right making faces again.... seems to be a theme with her!  She was funny...

 This picture is really horrible, but it's of the cast from our high school musical.  We did 'Oklahoma' my junior year and I was Laurie.  I am in the third row up in the blue dress with white piping.  Oh, the good old days!

 Junior high swing choir.  Remember when you thought you were really really cool?  And then you look back at pictures and realize how really uncool you were?!?!   This picture makes me crack up!!  I'm the one with the amazing glasses in the middle row again.  The guy in the same row as me is Tim.  Tim & I used to be paired up for all the solo and ensemble competitions... he has an amazing voice and is so talented musically.  After college  Tim Sheff moved to Nashville to be part of the Christian music scene, then did quite a bit of writing for country artists.  Most recently he toured playing the keys for Natasha Bedingfield & Julianne Hough.   He's now working on an album and you can hear some of his stuff by clicking on his name!!   :)

 Oh boy... more show choir pictures!  Here we are in high school.  That's me in the front.  Jill just behind me. 

It was fun to reminisce about my childhood a bit this week.  But Jill's death made me realize two important things... never take a single day for granted.  And- always give the people around you a bit of hope- most importantly the hope of Jesus.    Her death was unfortunate and I feel bad that we hadn't kept in touch over the years.