Mr. Grinch, It's a Wonderful Life

I'm so not Mr. Grinch. This is my favorite holiday of the year. I feel as if it's magical. Even after I quit believing in Santa Claus, it will always be magical because of what it symbolizes. It's not actually the real birthdate of Christ, but it is the day we celebrate it. I love any excuse to spend time with my family in Atlanta. Taking the new boyfriend this year and introducing to the parents. This is always the fun part!

Remembering the friends I've lost

John, Karley's father, and I, always take turns on holidays. Since I got sick, he's very good about giving me ones that I want. I really wanted her this Christmas. The holidays are not always magical for everyone, sometimes they are sad. I've lost so many friends and I know they have too. My most missed this year are my firecracker friend Nicole and my sweet soul sister, Kelly. I do have a real sister, so she's a soul sister too. And I'm so proud that she's gotten around to supporting lung cancer more openly. I think she saw my heart shatter when I lost Kelly. It was extremely tough to pull myself out of that funk. Kelly was my sunshine, my rainbows, and unicorns in this dark and sometimes very lonely world.

We shared everything. And I know some things she took with her, as will I. When she passed in July, I knew I could never possibly find anyone to replace her, nor did I want too. But about a week ago I got an email.

An unexpected email

The email was from a man (we shall call Matt). Matt had cancer himself before and now his wife had stage 4 lung cancer. He was wondering if I could talk to her. I will admit, I get messages like these a lot. I usually introduce them to the lung cancer community and they thrive in that environment. And usually, I am the one reaching out.

This year something unexpected happened. This young woman (we will call Faith) reached out to me first. She was diagnosed in July, the month Kelly passed. She really wanted to talk to someone to get her started advocating and someone she could talk to as a friend. So far, Nicole and Kelly had been those people for me. Am I ready to take on a new friend like this? Yes, this is exactly what I need.

Finding another soul sister in Faith

We've stayed up messaging until all hours of the morning. She loves unicorns, just like both Kelly and me! Then I asked one of the most important questions, "Do you love tacos?" She was like, "Are you kidding me? Of course!" OMG!!!

She is going through a lot right now, but she still called me close to midnight last night from the hospital, "Do you wanna play a game of words with friends?" YES! Of course. Nights can be the hardest. I believe Kelly sent her here. She saw that I was so sad and wasn't getting over her friendship. I told Faith, "Look, I am so happy your husband found me. No one can ever replace Kelly to me, but my family can grow". She can become a soul sister too. I just felt that instant connection. And one of the things that made me love her, even more, is when she said, "I can't wait to hear all about Kelly". I was in tears.

Thankful this holiday season

I know I will have friends come and go, but we are helping each other during the hardest parts of each other's lives. She's silly, she's going to the summit, she keeps you smiling even when she's got her own stuff going on. Man, does she remind me of Kelly. So, Kelly, girl, I may have to add us a sister down here, who will find you up there when her time comes. I'm prepping her for you, my love! She will know your soul when she arrives. I will too.

I just want to say thank you all for your continuous prayers and words of encouragement. A lot of people have it a lot worse than me during the holidays. Let's pray for them too. God bless you all!