Great Friends

This is a picture of two of the most wonderful friends ever. Vona Hopkins (in brown) and Jan Stinson (in yellow). They have been my biggest cheerleaders, mentors, sounding boards, and friends that one could have. It has been a rough year for me and these two ladies made it possible to get through the "fire". One person who is not in this picture is Jan's sister (Gwen but we call her Sissy). I love Sissy! She is retired and some how she knows exactly when she needs to be at the school to hand out hugs, advice, support, etc. I love how she looks me in the eye and tells it straight up. No pussy-footin' around. She will tell it like it is. It is always in love that she does this. I will really miss her tons.
Unfortunately, Jan decided to retire this year. She had been talking about it a lot through out the year but she finally decided that it was time. I knew she was ready because once she made the decision and took action to put it into motion, I saw her relax and the weight of the decision come off her. She has been an educator for 30 years at Maypearl. What a ride!! I want to be that kind of a teacher.
Vona is around still and I plan on continuing to hang with her throughout this next year. She is my buddy. She puts things into a calm perspective. She has really been through a lot with family illnesses but through it all, I have seen her rely more and more on her faith. She is a strong woman and one that I want to be more like.
I have enjoyed my time with both of these ladies and I have cried a lot the past few days because I feel like I will be missing a part of me. But I know that I am growing and that it is time that I grew in strength without relying on others to help me be strong. The best way I can think to relate this to is that "instead of hiding behind the bushes and letting the strong people be the front line, I need to stand up and join them. I need be a strong person and not rely on the strong people." Once in a while they need some help as well. These ladies mean the world to me and I just hope that I can be just like all of them.
If this doesn't make sense then just remember who is writing this. You should know me by now. :D