Missing Kathy

It was August 1987, the first day of the 1st grade. My mom and I were waiting at the bus stop, me in the single-file line, her just supervising. At one point I looked over and noticed this woman with an infectous smile that was approaching my mom. She had a little girl with her who looked about my age, but I had never seen her before. My mom spoke to this woman for no more than a couple of minutes before they began laughing and acting as if they had known each other forever.

The next thing I knew, the little girl and our moms approached me and my mom said, "Honey, this is Amy, she is going to be coming to our house every morning before school." Huh?! Who is this girl and why is she coming to my house? And so it began.

Amy came to my house every morning from the 1st grade until high school. Her mom, Kathy, was a teacher and would drop Amy off in the mornings on her way to work. We would watch TV, eat cereal, and then my parents would take us to the bus stop in elementary school and then off to the middle school as we got older. And how happy was I when I got to ditch Latchkey and go to Amy's house after school instead?!

Our lifelong friendship began that August day because of Kathy. I have no idea why she picked my mom to talk to, she had never laid eyes on her before. I like to think its because she knew we were all meant to be in each other's lives. I feel so blessed to have gotten to spend nearly 12 years with Kathy in my life. She opened her home to me like I was her own and I adored being there with Amy because of her.

Amy, what a mom you have! I know that you are the mom you are today because of Kathy. I see her in you, and I see her in Matthew. Ten years later I can still hear her laugh and know she is smiling down on us each and every day.