Remembering a Great Friend.

I have a music minor.  This music minor requires me to have four semesters of choir.  I finished three semesters of choir before my mission and now I have one more semester of choir to go.

Last Friday, I found myself walking through the halls of the familiar music building.  I have spent many hours there, learning music theory, playing the piano, and singing my little heart out.  I've also had the opportunity to make some incredible friends in that building.

Time came for choir to start and I was surprised at how incredibly hard it was for me to step back into that room as part of the women's choir.  I looked at the front row where I used to sit.  Then I looked to the seat next to mine where my dear friend Celeste used to sit.  Freshman year...an incredibly hard time of life...moving out, making new friends, being out on my own.  That's when Celeste and I first became friends.  She had an incredibly lovely smile and an infectious laugh.  I was super jealous of her hair, because it was thick and curly!

We were both second sopranos and we had the greatest time laughing at people and just enjoying music!  She moved into my ward the summer before I left on my mission, but I ended up moving home.  I went on my mission and when I got home and everything had settled down, I was devastated to learn that Celeste had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma about the same time I got home.  She had just barely graduated with her degree in Music Therapy the month before.

I kept close tabs on her progress by reading her blog.  I prayed and prayed for her recovery.  I got to see her when she came to Logan to attend a benefit concert that some of the music therapy students were putting on for her.  She was just as happy as ever and she played the piano so beautifully that night.  I was ecstatic when the update in January said that she was in remission!  She was so strong and I knew she was going to be okay!

A month later, she found out that the lymphoma had come back and that it was much worse than when they had first found it.  On April 9th of this year, she passed away at the age of 22.

Walking into the choir room this last week made me realize how much I missed her.  As I think about it, I'm reminded of how important it is to cherish every moment spent with the people you love.  Life happens so fast and you never know when somebody is going to be taken from you.

But I do know that when I make it to the other side, I will see Celeste again.  And she will have that beautiful hair of hers that I'm so jealous of!  And I am going to give her the biggest hug!  And we are going to sing some good songs!

*For more information on God's Plan of Happiness for us and what happens when we die, visit http://mormon.org/plan-of-happiness