Shannon is my best friend. Now, I'm liable to say that about a dozen people, but with Shannon it means something more. We met when I was 19 and she was 23. I still don't know why on earth she decided to be friends with me. I wouldn't have even wanted to be friends with me back then. I was such a baby and so naive, but she saw some hidden value and chose me. I am forever grateful for that. We've had some lapses in our friendship as grad school took over our lives, but once I graduated and moved back to Georgia we've been very close, sharing countless phone calls, slumber parties, and weekend trips.
We are so different, different personalities and careers and passions, but we fit. She is the one person who knows absolutely everything about me, all the nooks and crannies I usually keep hidden, the joys and struggles, my hopes, fears, and secret dreams. Nothing is hidden. That only happens when the friendship is built on absolute trust. I don't trust easily. I don't like being hurt (duh, no one does) but she has never hurt me. Not even once. Never has she taken anything I've shared and used it against me or thought less of me for it. That's who Shannon is. She is beautiful in the way she accepts people for where they are. On top of the world or mired down in the dark places, she accepts your journey and never asks you to move to make things easier on the relationship.
Not that she's content to leave you in the pit, but rather she sits down at the opening of the crevice and keeps you company while things are dark and scary. She listens and cries and laughs with you, throwing you a flashlight or rope if you ask for one, but never judging you for having fallen down there in the first place. See, Shannon's not scared of dark and messy and broken. She doesn't run when things are hard or upside down. She doesn't think she's strong because sometimes she finds herself in those places, but she is so fierce in the way she willingly marches through the dark places to find her friends. I honestly don't know if I would have survived these past few months without having her around.
She doesn't have an easy career either. She teaches high school English and Drama at a large county high school in south Georgia. I don't know how she does it, but she shows up every day to be the difference kids need. I love her for that. Showing up in the dark places is who she is and how she lives her life. That's beauty. To be tired and scared and drained, and still show up for people. To show up in the good times and bad. I wish I was like her. I'm trying to more like her.
Even on top of all of this, she is such a beauty. She does the porcelain skin and dark hair and eyes so well. Her skin is always clear (jerk) and her eyes are about as doe-like as you'll ever find. And her smile, I've seen it stop people dead in their tracks. I'm sure she'd say I'm exaggerating at this point, but she's crazy and a tad too modest these days. It's so much fun when we do get to dress up and go out together. She literally shines.
Even on top of all of this, she is such a beauty. She does the porcelain skin and dark hair and eyes so well. Her skin is always clear (jerk) and her eyes are about as doe-like as you'll ever find. And her smile, I've seen it stop people dead in their tracks. I'm sure she'd say I'm exaggerating at this point, but she's crazy and a tad too modest these days. It's so much fun when we do get to dress up and go out together. She literally shines.
So, here's to Shannon: the best friend who chose me, the supporter of dreams, the safest confidant, the woman who braves the dark. I love you, friend.
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