Shannon

I love to write. I carry a little notebook with me and while I am at the grocery store, or driving down the street (okay, just kidding about that last one), if I think of something I want to remember, I write it down. Sometimes, it is a complete thought, sometimes, just something I feel. Sometimes, I write something that doesn't "go anywhere" but is the entirety of what I am thinking.

A few months ago, I was thinking of my Best Friend, Shannon (cockadoodledooly.wordpress.com) and I wrote this about her in my notebook:

When we first moved from the big city in Colorado to as small town in Idaho, I thought my life was over. I was so sad and depressed. The styles were behind the times, the music was behind the times, even the people seemed socially "behind"...

Then, I met my best friend, Shannon. She was a REAL COWGIRL! I remember the way she looked. Not her physical appearance (although I DO remember that, too), but the WAY she LOOKED, with her eyes. When she looked out at the horizon, it was like she could see things I couldn't. When I looked at Shannon, I saw the world differently, and through different eyes.

At that point in my writing, I was getting hit with shopping carts because I was stopped in the middle of the aisle, and Taiger was screaming to go get bananas and I had to stop writing (for safety reasons).

But there is so much more to say.

I would look at Shannon while she looked ahead, and I wondered what greatness she saw. She saw greatness in people and in the world around her. I saw the greatness in her. I admired her so much! I wanted to be just like Shannon! And I still do. She really is my hero. I love her so much.

Shannon taught me about confidence, about being happy. She taught me how to be silly and how to love myself. She taught me how to speak up and to not look down in shame. She taught me how to set goals and to work hard for my dreams. She taught me to work hard in everything! She taught me to accept everyone. She taught me patience. She taught me trust. She taught me faith in God. She taught me how to compliment others, and how to find the goodness in myself. She taught me to love unconditionally.

How did she teach me all of these things? By DOING them!

Yes, she really is THAT amazing.

I hope someday I can LOOK like Shannon, look OUT at the world and see what Shannon did when we were younger. That I can look out at the horizon and see things that others can't, things like beauty and goodness, like fun and adventure and excitement, things like hope and possibility. She never saw the bad in the world, in other people, or in me. She filtered it and saw only the good. Her eyes were the most beautiful brown, and when I looked at her face as she looked out beyond here and now, her eyes sparkled.