au revior Chanda

A few days before Chanda left, we got together with a few friends to have dinner and say goodbye.

Oh how I love this girl. I cannot think of her without smiling... and reminiscing.

We go to church together. We were in the the same FRG (family readiness group). Chanda is so fun and insightful. She communicates well, and she was able to make a real difference within our FRG organization. I learned to rely heavily on her insights and opinions. She was always right on.

We became friends.

I trust her. 

We spent a few holidays together - Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve...  We planned some super fun and successful FRG events. Those were good times.

Then our husbands deployed. 

We had a few super late nights (maybe even an all-nighter on one occasion) and super fun days. We spent a lot (and I mean A LOT) of time on the telephone. She helped keep me sane and even happy when that was possible. She demonstrated kindness and love for me and my family over and over again. She even drove hours and hours to attend Bailey's baptism while we were in the states.

And somehow our kids just meshed. Our babies are about the same age. I enjoyed having her kids around. They were so happy and mellow. When they were at my house, it was as if they had always been there. I don't know how to explain it... like my sisters' kids.

I cannot think how I would have survived the deployment without Chanda. She was my battle buddy. She is like a sister to me. 

I love her.

So much.

And now she is in Hawaii. And I miss her.

So now I will finally post the pictures I took at dinner. It didn't feel like "goodbye" at the time. It was just a fun girls' night with friends:

It didn't feel like goodbye until late that evening out in front of Chanda's hotel. That's when I realized that my friend was going to be very far away for a while...

...I don't like it very much.

But I love Chanda!