Hopeful.

Hope is one of the very first friends in life that I remember having. I moved to Fort Dale when I was in first grade, and shortly after she and I became best friends.

We lived down the road from each other, and many summer days we walked to one another’s houses to swim or play. We played city league softball together for years. We spent many nights at the Fort Deposit Spirit Club field watching our daddy’s play softball, or playing ourselves. We ran through Calico Fort like we owned it. It was a beautiful childhood, filled with precious memories.

Hope’s parents were divorced, and she lived with her dad. One Christmas we were concerned about him not having enough gifts so we got all the change we could find and we went to “Bill’s Dollar Store” for her to buy him gifts. I am sure that those dollar gifts were far from the nicest things he received, but I know that even now as an adult, I have not seen gifts given with any more love and pride than the ones Hope gave her dad that Christmas.

Our friendship endured a lot. Divorces and deaths. Moves. We grew up together. And I thank God that he chose Hope for me to share some of those first times life lessons with.

We went on vacations together. The beach most often, but once to Disney World. I remember her mom telling us that a lot of friends would come along, but that we should stick together. And she was right. A lot of friends did come along. And we traveled through different groups of friends, but at the end of the day when we really need something, we have always found our way back to the first real friendship that I remember.

I greatly appreciate her daddy and hold him in high regard. Any dad who will raise his child alone, should be really respected. As a mother, I know that being a single parent would be so hard. As a dad, I am sure at times it felt impossible. But he did a really good job, and as adults I love to see the friendship they share. My daddy preached Hope’s wedding when she married Ty a couple of years ago, and the bonds of our family run deep and are permanent.

Life gives you few friends who stick with you through it all. Few friends who are close enough to you to tell you the truth. Friends who try to stop you from making mistakes, and when you do, beg you to correct them.

I am thankful for “Hopeful” as I have always called her, and pray that our friendship sees many years to come.