My Beautiful Footprints

We all have footprints on our heart that are meant to create and shape us into who we are. As I get ready to turn 43 this coming Sunday I find myself reviewing all those footprints on my heart that have carried me to the path that I am on. I have so many beautiful footprints that I have to say thank you to some of you. Without you in my life and the effects of your special touches I would be hollow inside. So..... lets talk. In no special order, because you all hold a place that no other can hold, I want to remind you of our special times:
I remember as you left school to be with the man you loved and to have a life together for your son that was on the way. You were so young and yet I found myself jealous because you were starting your life without me. You have survived through so much love and pain in your life. You were given responsibility beyond what you should have had to endure, but at least you have not been alone. I remember dancing in your front room to My Sharona and all of us girls trying to fit on your bed in the hot summer to take in the fan. You gave your son the middle name I wanted mine to have and now days I thank you for that save. I love you so much and you are so talented and such a beautiful person. You were the one of us that could go without makeup when we were kids and we would all look at you with frustration because you would repeatedly tell us that soap and water kept your face clear. You were and still are a beautiful woman that has a heart of gold and you carry the same name as our other friend. She was a country girl who drove that car all over Salem and never got stopped until the day she turned sixteen. She loved and lost and was always the beautiful blond that all of the boys were crazy about. She was in my wedding and flaunted herself so beautifully at her man. I remember her and I living together briefly as she was pregnant with her son. Over the years we always found each other again. She was discovering men in her life and the main man was her son who won her heart. She struggled through life, love, hurt, loss and pain and still survived all odds and found a way to rebuild her life. Mistrust put us at a distance but she and I both knew that we loved each other and nothing could change what we had already experienced together. We all make and have made mistakes but friends love and find a way to bridge past the differences. I love her still and we have shared many adult years due to us both being single for a lot of our lives. We will always have St. Elmo and the memories of that world to hold us in her sons family. The music of his dad continues to sing on even today. Another beautiful one i remember clear as day being in that old house and listening to Jesse's Girl. You were absolutely so beautiful then inside and out and you still are today. I almost did not get the chance to tell you how special you are to me and how much I love and miss you. You hold your daughter so close and the grand baby you share with our first friends we never even thought of your children creating such a beautiful little girl. A special girl to turn all of your worlds into her own putty. You were my one friend who taught me about being and looking beautiful on the outside. You struggled with me and almost lost your touch when a knife swiftly and stupidly cut you by mistake. I have forever regretted you having to go through that moment along with a few others that you endured. Know that you always hold that special place of teaching me about perfection and how it is not a bad thing is someone life. It can actually be quite beautiful. Oh,...... my beautiful, beautiful friend who we all felt her heart to be so soft and loving towards everyone. She was a missing peace of our hearts when she disappeared out of our lives for so many years. She was lost, and some how one of us found her. You know who you are and when you were found it was Gods answer to our prayers and yours. You were so lonely and scared and tired of going on by yourself. Your sweet and attentive beautiful ways. I remember us trying to hide in the snow that year as we had passed our curfew and the officer was there catching us. He told us to go home and we all went straight home. He must of laughed at us for hours after seeing us run like wildfire and our bodies hiding in that white snow. I have to laugh now just to think about it. We are all so blessed to have you back and I love you more than words can ever say. My other friend you and I share, well actually we all have had her in our lives. Her and I use to share clothes and she would spend weeks at a time with me at my house. Her brothers were always in and out of our lives and I have kept one close to me for almost four years now. We all have memories with them good and bad. My memories with her are funny and loving. A summer of swimming and riding bikes and developing the twenty inchers and the death angels. We were finding out together about love and her purple rain man become her husband. Over time she remains the wild child and we have to love her because we cant ever and don't ever want to think of us without her in our lives. She is the one that is so young looking and keeps the young red head at her side. She has the daughter that I always wanted and she was kind enough to let me share the birth and growth of her first grand baby, baby Girl! I thank you for that blessing in my life and I have enjoyed sharing that precious time with you. Another friend of mine has found her home in Texas but lived with me and shared my room and mother for such a long time. I mysteriously do not remember a lot of jealous over my mothers love just over her talent for writing. We spent a minimum of five years plus not speaking because of a man that I stupidly brought into my life. I thought I had lost you and thanks to Gods blessings we found each other again. My favorite time was sharing my room with you and loving you as my sister. Know that you are unique to my clan and no one can ever take your place and that's a compliment not a mistake! Another footprint that came my way was a blond young girl that I looked after and we experienced a touching moment with her brother lost to this world. We have yelled and screamed at each other for young mistakes that she made but she often could find herself lost. I will forever remember the hickeys on your neck the night you came back to me with the fiance and how upset I was but again he crossed the line and I had to be the better person for I was being so mislead. I still love her and forgive her. She formed me and now I know not where she is but I will still keep her in my heart. One of the friends that taught me about life and singing, playing guitar and lock ins at churches I will never forget you. You were so talented back then and the talent is even greater today not just for your skills but for bringing glory to God in the right places. One of our favorite pastimes was you playing highway to heaven and me accompanying you with the singing. You are the one who gave me my favorite song that I now share with my son and shared with my mother, play it at my funeral for Amazing Grace is what all of my friends have blessed me with. I am thankful for all of the love. I will love you all like my sisters forever. I have been blessed to have known all of you and to have had your footprints on my heart and soul. LYLASA.................................... You all know what this means. I do have one more friend that if she ever shows up and you ladies meet her, she topped off what you all would have done. I met her in college and her name was Phyllis. She kept our love and passion for life alive. For my 21st birthday she took me to a strip club (Demorox)..... and she had kept you all in mind, except for you Bec.(sorry) she saved money back for me and she bought me a few drinks and added a few dollars to the star on stage who guess what, looked just like Jeff. You all know who I mean. I had the time of my life and she kept me safe. Long story short..... I got saw that night and when the lights came on my name was called from the back of the room. I never forgot that lesson of pay attention to what you are doing as an adult because somebody is always watching. I love you all and thank you for being my friends. I will cherish this memories all of the rest of my life. Each of you and your beautiful footprints created me bit by bit! Thank you for your many blessings!