Blahnuarys and my oldest friend

Before I talk about my oldest friend, I should say a little about January Blogging. I haven't posted much of late and the reason is this: the peace on earth, good will to men of December is past and I have the Blahnuary's.

Which is to say that before we can get to the blessed time of s
pring when my little green friends greet me from the ground, there is the abyss. And I have to admit that this year, the abyss seems longer, colder and darker. Could it be that I have been continually sick with the sniffles, sore throat, and ----diareaha.

So, now that I have prefaced this, I was getting the mail and noticed a nice card from my friend, Lynda Davis. Lynda and I were best friends in High School. We had a lot in common and had a great time together. I have always admired her. Her father worked for the government and occasionally we would (with permission) take one of these old gray government cars to go goofing around in. More than once we got into a tight spot with Lynda pulling into an alleyway and then discovering there were no locks on the government car.

We sang together, we went to games together, we both had other non-mutual friends, but we were always there for each other. A couple of things that happened in High School really molded Lynda into the person she is today. One, she was in a car full of friends from her ward/stake and they were hit head on. A good friend of hers, the boy sitting right next to her was killed. I know this was a difficult time for her, physically and emotionally.

Then in our Senior year, her parents had gone to Salt Lake and she was in charge of her younger siblings. The keys to the government car had been hidden, so that Jerry, her younger brother couldn't take the car. We had just finished lunch and Lynda got a call to go to the office. She came and told me that she had to get to the hospital right away. It turned out that Jerry had hotwired one of the government cars, and on his way to or from the school, hit a train. He was in critical condition. Lynda rushed to be with him. Her mother and father rushed home from Salt Lake, but I believe it was too late by then. Lynda had to shoulder all of this on her own. I'd like to say that I was a better friend than I was to her at this time, but I'm not sure I was. I didn't really know what to do. I hope that in some way, I helped her through it. (Lynda, I hope I got all of the details right......)

With her experiences and the experiences that I had been through earlier in my life, we became two "mature beyond our years" young ladies, but still with that fun-loving streak.

When it came time for college, Lynda went to BYU Provo and I to BYU Idaho (Ricks College). We stayed close and in contact and when I married Gordon, she was my maid of honor and when she married William less than 2 weeks later, I was her "matron"of honor.

We both had four boys and one girl; her girl came in the middle and mine at the end. Three of her sons have served (one serving in Las Vegas right now) missions and her high school senior will be soon to follow, I'm sure. She has raised a beautiful family in New Bremen, OH.

Richard tells me that he can tell from reading Lynda's comments on my blog how much alike we are and he can see how we were and are friends. I thought that was"way cool".

Back to my Blahnuary day at the mailbox; I opened the box and there was a letter for me from Lynda. A beautiful hand made birthday card telling me that she loves me and is grateful for our friendship and that she is proud of me.

Talk about taking a blahnuary day and blowing it right apart! That's when I knew that I had to do a post of my oldest and dearest friend. Although we've always exchanged Christmas and Birthday cards, we have reconnected this past year through technology and it has been great. I don't think this picture will do her justice, but here goes:

Lynda Rossiter Davis.