Jaime

Today is a hard day. I go to say goodbye to my friend Jaime Shannon Hill and offer my support to her family. I pray for strength. And I pray for the family to also have strength and find comfort.

She was loved by many and will remain in our memories for who she was. She was a christian, silly, a giver, caring, and always there when you needed her. She was strong willed and determined. She loved her nieces and nephews to pieces and they filled her with joy, along with every other child that she came in contact with. Her selflessness was reflected through acts of kindness. She would have taken the shirt off her back if someone needed it more. No matter how much she struggled, she was always willing to do for someone else.

Jaime was a huge part of my life. There are few people in life that you can call a true friend. Jaime was, indeed, a true friend.  I remember sleep overs at her house when we were small. The crazy things she did in high school made everyone laugh. After school, she made sure she always stayed in touch through email. When I went through my divorce, she was there for me, always, anytime I needed someone. And when I became pregnant with my second child, she was one of the few people who stood by my side and helped me through. When I remarried she was there, helping straighten my dress before I walked down the isle and helping with my reception. We laughed together, we cried together, and we called each other to complain about anything and everything.
  

This was Jaime. She made a point to get together with friends and family. You could go months without speaking to her, and when you finally did see her or talk to her on the phone, it was like no time had ever passed. It was rare you would hear her complain about her own physical ailments, of which she had many.  I was blessed beyond measure by this woman for so many years of my life and feel special for every moment I was able to share with her and Sonny, her husband of 12 years.

The loss of Jaime is a hard pill to swallow. She just turned 32 years old. A mother has lost a daughter, two sisters have lost their sister, and a husband has his best friend, lover, and wife. An entire community is at a loss. Friend to so many, she affected many in so many ways. And now we are left with the memory of her.

It will be hard not picking up the phone to call her. I will miss the random text messages asking if I will bail her out of jail if.... Trips to Springville will be much harder. Even so, as I sit here thinking about Jaime, I can't help but know exactly what she would say if she could talk to me now. "Shut up!" Which would be followed by why I should be happy for her right now. 

Jaime went through so much pain in life. Wanting children of her own and not being able to have them. Being sick and the doctors not knowing what to do about it or what was causing her ailments was a regular battle. She was in and out of the ER regularly. But today, Jaime's body is sleeping, her soul has been released and gone to be with the Lord. And she has been reunited with her daddy Ricky, who she has missed because he too was taken too early. She has been given her heavenly body and here will be NO more pain.

Knowing this, I am trying to find a balance between my sorrow for my loss and my joy for her gain. Ecclesiastes 7:1 says that the day of death is better than ones birth. We have hope in Christ, those of us who believe and are saved. There will come a day when I know that I will be reunited with everyone I have lost on earth and be with them for eternity. That will include my friend.

We have no way of understanding God's Will. And in times like this, it is hard to accept. So I will leave you all with a passage from the bible that is giving me hope, and I hope that it helps anyone else dealing with loss.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17

The Hope of the Resurrection
¹³ And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. ¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
¹⁵ We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. ¹⁷ Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.