My heart wants to burst with gratitude when I consider the number of high-calibre, amazing and wonderful women that I count as my friends. I have been blessed to live in a number of homes and from each locale I have a handful of friends that are very, very dear to me. Counting backward I dearly love so many women from Genola and Pleasant Grove, UT… Heath, TX…. Battle Ground, WA…. Aloha, OR…. and Provo, UT – here I must include three of my incredible roommates (now in TN, NC and ID) as well as those I knew after I was married. (I am not forgetting you great women from the cruise this year… UT, WY and MI).

Keep going back in time and I land in Hayden, Colorado. Here I attended junior high and high school and here I met my original best friend, Jennifer Kline Holmlund. She has been in my heart and my mind for many days. As I reflect on our friendship I marvel at what a blessing she is in my life. I believe that it is through being her friend that I learned how to choose and develop other friendships through the years.

Though very young, I actually made a conscious choice to be friends with Jennifer. Hayden, Colorado is a very small town. I was just entering seventh grade when we moved there and I was faced with a group of kids that had grown up together. It wasn’t easy to fit in – and I wasn’t really sure that I wanted to. I can recall the day in 7th grade science class… Jennifer was leaning back in her chairs and a group of us were talking. I had the distinct feeling that she and I were going to be good friends. And we were!

Over the next six years she and I were pretty much inseparable. We took turns staying at each other’s house on Friday nights. Her dad gave her a Bronco (and his gas key from the Co-op) so she did all the driving. She would drop me off and then go home and we would call each other and continue talking for hours. I usually felt shy and reserved in public, but Jennifer could talk to anyone – it didn’t matter where they were from, what age they were… she seemed to be always be comfortable. She was very generous with both time and means and she would drop anything if someone needed help. 

For years, she and I walked to her grandma’s home for lunch where we ate delicious leftovers and watched Andy Griffith and other “oldies” with her grandpa. We cheered and took drama classes together. Several times she traveled with my family and I once went to Denver with hers. One summer she did a summer student exchange to France and I went to Finland. We were both friends with each other’s “exchange” friend during their time in Hayden.

In all of those years I recall only one disagreement. It was while we were in California to have Thanksgiving with my relatives. We both had braces and so we went and bought matching Braces are Beautiful t-shirts. I wanted to wear them right away but she refused to wear hers until she had taken it home to wash. I thought that was silly. Arguing about it was even sillier. 

Just as there was no contention, there was no jealousy. At one point we both had a crush on the same boy. He dated Jennifer and that was fine because I was happy for her. Besides he had a cute friend for me so it all worked out… How’s that for true friendship in high school? Love and loyalty at that age is rare. Well, it is rare at any age. 

Our family backgrounds were quite different but we never made comparisons, we just accepted life as it was. I had chosen to live standards differently than many of our friends but she never even suggested that I change a thing. My parents treated her as a daughter. She had two younger sisters and I had one — and we both loved all of them. I could go on and on… high school was fun because I had Jennifer as a best friend.

About two days after high school graduation I moved out to California and by Christmas my family had moved away as well. We went to different universities but kept in touch for several years with frequent letters. When her first marriage took place in a Las Vegas wedding chapel I was there as her bridesmaid. I saw her again in 1994 when Mark finished grad school and I brought our little family out to see where I had attended high school. By this time she was happily married to her second husband Ryan and we all stayed together at her grandparents home where I had enjoyed so many lunch hours. She met us at a cabin outside Steamboat Springs in 2007 (or so) and we had a wonderful evening together recalling years of shared memories. 

Over the past decade we have lost contact – but it doesn’t matter. We knew that we loved each other. I always figured I could hunt her down and we could reconnect just like that. Sadly, I am speaking in past tense because just two weeks ago Jennifer was admitted to the hospital and within a week she had passed away. We are all in shock and mourning. 

Yet I delight in Jennifer’s life and her impact on me. She had many gifts and I am a grateful recipient of her goodness. The seeds of friendship sown in seventh grade sprouted into a tree which grew and flourished. For me there ae strong, healthy branches strewn across several states. She is gone and yet she continues to bless my life. This is her legacy in my life.

I am honored to call her friend. She was and is a sister to me. 

Rest in peace Jennifer! You are loved!

Despite most of our belongings being in storage – I found a few photos to share, mostly for her family. Aside from the hairstyles, something else painful about the 80’s was the Kodak Disc camera – sorry about the poor quality. I am also missing some classic photos of us together – I’ll add them if they ever show up… We should have photos from our visit in 2007 but they were on a crashed hard drive… Classic.

I have been to Hayden just three times since my family moved. I have mentioned 1994 and 2007. The third time was just last year (October 2022) as Mark and I drove through following my niece’s wedding in Boulder. I was still too sick to stop and visit with anyone – but I showed him my favorite spots and we walked several laps around the awesome new park because blood clots were still a danger for me. How easy it would have been to look her up and just stop by to give her a hug and get a few more photos…. Seriously – when will I ever learn? Relationships are everything… do something for someone today!

Today I am driving to her funeral….

A month too late – I found those other photos I was looking for and will put them here for my own sake. Not sure anyone else will see them.