While we get to choose our friends, aside from marriage or adoptions, we rarely get to choose our family members. 29 years ago, on July 5th, my aunt gave birth to my Cousin Chanda. 13 days later, I came into the picture when my mom had me on July the 18th. For as long as I can remember, Chanda & I have always been around each other. Thankfully, we have pretty much always gotten along (well, except for the time she hit me with a stick when the whole family went camping!). I don't recall us really ever having much of a tiff with one another. Chanda is my friend that I have had the longest & is also one of my closest friends. Over the course of the last 29 years, we have had many good times as well as having been support for one another through a great number of difficult times too. We have experienced so much together that it's hard to recall it all. One of the highlights growing up was when her parents left us home alone as they went out for a Sunday drive. All of a sudden, the doorbell rang & it was a young guy outside. Immediately, we called 911. Just as Chanda's parents were returning home, so were the police arriving. The guy outside the door..he was the guy that lived across the street--not a burglar. I remember the two of us riding along in the backseat of our van when Chanda encouraged me to stick a Tic-Tac up my nose. For whatever reason, I followed her advice & did so. Let's just say that Wintergreen Tic-Tacs don't belong lodged up in nostrils. My mom was not too amused when I told her I did it because Chanda told me to. I don't believe Chanda had had her license for very long when a group of us were going out to eat after church one night. Several of us piled in her car & headed to the restaurant. We made it there just fine. Unfortunately, not a one of us in the car had any knowledge of how to return home & we wound up in a rough part of St. Louis late at night. Cell phones were not seen much back then so we stopped at a gas station to use a payphone--all the while not knowing that the area was not safe. When our parents found out where we were, they were wanting us to get out of there fast. We've done much baking together, been on the same soccer team,celebrated our birthday's together, played grocery store at our Grandma & Grandpa's as kids & spent the summers together with our other sets of Grandparents in AL. I was the Maid of Honor in Chanda & Mike's wedding 10 years ago. I can only hope that one day, I will be the bride & next to me, Chanda will stand as one of my bridesmaids. Until the past 2 years, Chanda & Mike have lived all over the country due to Mike's military service. It has not been easy having the two of them & their three children away but we have always kept in contact regularly. I have been able to go & visit them when they lived in Virginia as well as Oklahoma & most recent, Tennessee. I am pleased that they have moved a bit closer & can visit more frequently. I look forward to the day when they are back home, here in St. Louis. Today, Chanda & Mike have 3 children-Ian (10), Rose (will be 7 on Sept. 11) & Adrianna (5). Mike serves our country proudly in the United States Army. Michael currently is deployed to Afghanistan & is set to return to the states in January of '09. Please, pray for Mike, Chanda & the kids. Chanda is an incredible woman, mother, wife & friend. It has not always been easy for her--especially to have spent so many years away from family. At this time, with Mike's absence she's been tested even more so. Next year, Chanda & I will reach a big milestone, 30. She thinks it would be nice for the two of us to go on a trip somewhere to celebrate the big number. I hope that we will be able to do so. While 29 years have come & gone, our friendship has remained strong all along. I know it will continue to be too.
