Dear Shannon

Today you are getting married and I could not be more excited for you. Today your sister and brother will stand up and give their toasts to you and I wanted to do the same here. I am so happy that both of your siblings are there to share in your special day and the fact that they are doing your toasts is just perfect. I wouldn't want it any other way.

I cannot believe how fast these years have gone by. Do you remember all the crazy things that we use to do? Mismatch day? Getting lost for hours in your woods? Those hour long phone conversations where we begged our parents to let us stay over? How about the bubbles in Nana's tub? We couldn't get them to stop bubbling, we were so scared she would be upset; but she wasn't. How about going school clothes shopping? You would get a green shirt and I would get a blue shirt, we always matched.  6th Grade Play? How about your first boyfriend Mark? (It doesn't count John, she was like 10 haha) And don't forget all of those camp memories and TLC. Toothpaste on the walls? What was wrong with us?! Here's a picture to help you remember those times.

Not that I really need to remind you but remember those painful times we went through? How stupid I was to ever let those years slip away from us. And remember all of those times where we tried to patch things up but nothing seemed to work? Until finally years later, we started intentionally meeting for coffee and getting to know each other again. 

Can I tell you, what a blessing those times were. How thankful I am that we worked through our problems, put them behind us, and became friends again. You have blessed me in so many ways. Remember all those coffee dates where all we talked about was our weddings? Even if we had gone over chair covers for the thousandth time, we still revisited the subject. Remember when you found your wedding dress and you texted me with multiple smiley faces and before you even told me what it looked like, I knew because we had spent hours dreaming about the perfect dress. Remember the bridal show that we went to? We were each months away from our wedding and found it to be rather boring because we are master planners. 

And let's not forget about all of those texts that we would send. We could text for hours and feel completely refreshed. What about Applebee's? We never did need a menu and we never had problems filling up two hours with conversation. And we can't forget my wedding. We spent hours talking to each other. I had to have one more lunch date with just you so I could let you know everything that was going on. I needed you by my side and you were always there. As soon as I had a thought, you took care of it and I never had to think twice about it again. You were amazing. 

But today starts a new chapter in our friendship. Today, you walk down the aisle to the man of your dreams. The man you have been waiting to marry for 6 years. The man God designed for you. John is a lucky man to spend the rest of his life with you. Today, I get the joy of standing up there with you to watch you marry John. I could not be happier for you both. You have a love that not many people find. You both have had to carry this relationship while being hundreds of miles apart. You two adore each other and have the same love that I found in Roger. But today will change our friendship. From this point on we will both have a husband to tend to before each other, we will have daily tasks to do that will keep us apart and at the end of the night we will each come home to our husbands.

However, I am not worried. Although our friendship will change and it will look different than it did yesterday, I am confident that our friendship is here to stay. (We did move states to be closer to you :) ) Our husbands will go out for baseball games and we will spend more time shopping and chatting about our houses instead of weddings. We will have many dates (and double dates). We will find a new friendship together as married women. I cannot thank you enough for your friendship, Shannon. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us. I know He has blessed our friendship and will continue to bless us. 

You will always be my best friend.

I love you.

~ Bethany

Roots that Run Deep

           Remember when I said that I would be sharing what I learned from Tiffany's posts about marriage? Well,I am still working on it. It was a lot to digest and I don't want to right up a post that I haven't really thought about. So I thought I would share something things about Tiffany and her family. {I see you rolling your eyes Tiffany...]

      They have been a huge part of my life for the past 6 years. I met Tiffany and her husband Jim atCamp BaYouCa. At the time, Jim was working on the executive staff and I was an errand girl. To be perfectly honest, I was terrified of Jim. Now that I know him, I am not sure what the problem was. I remember Tiffany with her pregnant belly and thinking how adorable she looked. It wasn't until after their daughter, Cadi, was born that I really got to know them.

Some people can remember the exact day that it happened that an ordinary person became their friend for life. I cannot remember that time for this family. I don't remember sitting down and having one talk or one event that really brought us closer together. I think it was just time that sealed our friendship. After Cadi was born, that first summer, I would take her on walks so Tiffany could work in the office and I would visit whenever I could, but it wasn't like I was calling them family...yet.

The summers run together in my mind and it is hard to separate them. There was the one summer that Cadi and I spent every day in the pool together. Little did we know that that would be a frequent habit of ours. I would show her some swimming stuff but mostly we would just play.

I believe it was those hours that Cadi and I spent in the pool that I really fell in love with Tiffany and her family. We would just sit and chat about the most random things but it always made encouraged me. Shorter conversations turned to longer conversations and before you know it we had a connection. Summer after summer, we would all return to camp and each year we would strengthen our friendship.

There are so many memories that I could share with you but it would take forever. I will highlight a few for you. I vividly remember when Cadi finally learned how to swim. She could jump in and swim to the ladder without any help. I remember teaching the hours we all spent at the BYC Cafe trying to figure out how to make the perfect iced coffee. There was the time I was down stairs reading Cadi a book when Tiffany's water broke for Scotty. There was the 15 mile hike Jim took the staff on and Tiffany's sweet, encouraging words about how it "wouldn't be much longer..." {lies..} I remember countless hours making hundreds of cinnamon rolls with the them. I can remember the day that I told Jim that my mom was getting her second divorce and not understanding why Jim hugged me and walked away until a few years later when he explained in a sermon that my story broke his heart. There was that trip to Virginia for Jim's sister's wedding. I remember the day Tiffany called me to tell me that they were going to adopt. {Friday morning at 9AM, I remember the chair I was in} Still very fresh in my mind, is the day they brought Jamesy home. I was 15 minutes early to the airport and just stared at the gate waiting for them to walk through. I remember the emotion that I felt as I saw Jamesy for the first time in their arms. There are countless babysitting and sleep over stories that could be shared but will save for myself.

This family is my family. At some point in time, they went from the Darling's that I knew from camp to the Darling's that I love and cherish. They are my second family. Cadi is my sister. Scotty and Jamesy are my brothers. Even as I write this, I am looking forward to tomorrow when I get to spend the day with them. I look forward to Cadi being my flower girl in my wedding in two weeks. I look forward to hearing Jim's charge to the couple at the wedding. Honestly, I just look forward to a lifetime friendship with them.

This is Cadi and I. I have no idea when this picture was taken or what we were doing. I think she wanted to match me by wearing a headband and wearing pink!

This is Scotty and I. He was so little in this picture but so adorable!

I do not have a picture of Jamesy and I. Maybe that will change tomorrow!

I pray that everyone is able to find that special family that means the world to them. It really is a gift from God!

Enjoy your weekend!