My Marsha

Most who read my blog know me pretty well and know about my BFF, Marsha. Marsha is on my mind a lot these days, as she is dealing with a lot of stress in her life, and especially today, as her little boy has a major surgery to remove a tumor in his lung. So today, I will write about Marsha, and hope that all that read this will keep her in your thoughts.

When I was younger – like high school and college age – I never had a “best” friend. I had a lot of friends, and belonged to a “group” of girls, but never had that one person who was my very best friend. In college, I had my roommates, who I adore and are my forever friends, and obviously I met Jon at Penn State, and he became my soul mate, and all of my life I have had the world’s best big sister, who is, of course, my best friend, but both Jon and my sister are a different kind of best friend than the kind of friendship I found when I met Marsha.
I will never forget the moment I met Marsha. Unbeknownst to me, our paths had crossed before, but the first time I remember meeting her was at a picnic shortly after we all moved to Mountain Home. We didn’t have kids yet, our dogs were the center of our lives, and my first impression was that we couldn’t have been more different, and that she wasn’t someone I would normally be friends with. But she was funny, and confident, and ate about twelve brownies in a row at that picnic, and didn’t care what anyone thought – and why should she, as she is also gorgeous. She made me laugh, and I was trying to be more open minded about making some new friends. Somehow or another we started talking, and over time developed a friendship that was different than any I had ever known. I never had to worry about offending her, or endangering our friendship – if she was upset about something, she would let you know. I think one of Marsha’s best skills is her ability to take care of everybody, its just what she does. It is very easy for me to just let her take care of me, and so that is what I did.

Our three years in Mountain Home were great. We both bought our first houses there, and had our first babies there. She was the first person to see and hold Hailey(besides me and Jon, of course), and was by my side through all of my insecurities about, and adjustment to- being a mom.

But of course, we are military wives, and so our husbands forced us to move away from each other. Marsha now lives in San Antonio, we have little hope of ever living in the same place again, and have seen each other only 3 times in the last 2+ years. We don’t talk everyday, or even every week – as our children do not appreciate it when we use the phone, but regardless of the time and distance, it’s the same.

Jon, Hailey, and I went to visit Marsha and her family in January to help celebrate her 30th birthday. In the week after we left, her husband was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent a major surgery and is now enduring chemo. JJ, her almost 4 yr old son, has had a mass in his lung for some time, and his doctors have decided that it now is the perfect time for it to come out. JJ’s surgery is today, and while I know Marsha was - and is - worried about her husband, it is nothing compared to her anxiety for JJ.

I can’t even fathom the stress that she has been under in the past two months, but am very proud of the way she has handled everything. I know that she is a natural care-taker, but I think this may be more than any person should have to take on. I also know that many people are praying for Joel and JJ, and for Marsha and Jace too, but I just wanted to make sure everyone keeps Marsha in your thoughts today and send her your strength so she can keep taking care of her family.