The power of a dear friend

I am trying to find the words to capture how grateful and emotional and touched I am, Zev and I are, by the love of a friend and fellow military wife, Sue. I am not usually speechless, but tonight when I opened the three packages that she had sent I was honestly speechless and overwhelmed by emotion! 

Sue and her husband Kevin are very good friends of Zev and I. Kevin and Zev were stationed at Barksdale Air Force base in Louisiana from 2005 to 2008. To say that was an AWESOME tour is an understatement. There were seven squadrons in the Mission Support Group that Zev and Kevin were Commanders in and we all had to live on base (which was gorgeous; Barksdale has beautiful large antebellum historic houses where they even filmed movies during our time there!) So since each squadron commander had to live on base and since we practically all lived on the same street, we spent a LOT of time together. Not only did the guys get along really well (Zev fondly reminisces about the "dream team" of squadron commanders during that tour), but us wives were also VERY tight. As in we saw each other every day, we shared countless dinners and took care of each others families when the guys were deployed and genuinely loved one another. One wife, Darla, recently came to visit us here and although I hadn't seen her since 2008, we picked up right where we left off. It was like we had just seen each other last week! The guys worked hard but we made sure to play hard together too ("The Yorks, Yorks, Yorks...")

So Sue and Kevin and their gorgeous kids Nick and Jenni Jo are now stationed at Minot Air Force Base. She has always been an incredible encourager but especially to me personally since my brain cancer diagnosis almost a year ago. Unbeknownst to me, Sue organized her students and friends and colleagues to take pictures and write notes to Zev, Zachary and I, to encourage us in this journey and FIGHT against cancer. I am getting choked up writing this, but it still amazes me and humbles me when I hear that people who don't even know me are praying for me and my family. People who BELIEVE in healing and the power of a positive attitude. I get most emotional when I hear of children innocently praying with all their heart, for God to heal and restore so wine they don't even know! Wow. Sue went so far as to order gray rings with the words "Faith, Hope, Love" on them and stickers with the same color and words to spread awareness about brain cancer (gray is the "official" color of brain cancer.) She took pictures of people wearing these rings and stickers and included them in the book that she sent me.

Sue, "thank you" does not seem like adequate enough to convey how grateful and touched I am by all this. I will treasure everything you sent me. Please thank everyone that contributed to this project. Tell that it encouraged me today me and I KNOW will encourage me and Zev and Zachary in the future. I love you and thank God for your presence in my life!!