Laura

In high school one of my very best friends was Laura Ball. We were friendly in middle school but became very close after making the junior varsity cheerleading squad together. Our friendship was really cemented our sophomore year when we were dealt the injustice of a second year on the JV squad and were made captain and co-captain.

Amanda, Brooke, Ann, Mandy, Laura and I were the major players in our group throughout high school. We did most everything together. We were in the same classes and the same clubs, and socialized together on the weekends. We went on church trips together and Laura, Ann and I cheered together every year. We were inseparable in a lot of ways.

After high school, Laura, Brooke and Jenny would come to visit me (and sometimes Ann) in Gainesville. We had some of the craziest experiences-- all harmless but we were thrilled with the freedoms of college life. During my sophomore year at UF Laura got engaged and asked us to be her bridesmaids. She was the first of us to have a beautiful daughter and get married.

From there we drifted in our own separate worlds. Never losing touch but life goes through changes that are unavoidable. As the years passed the visits got more infrequent. Dinner every year at Christmas, wedding showers, and baby showers, weddings and bachelorette parties. Though we didn't talk all the time, Laura was at all of the major moments of our lives.

Laura died last week in both a sudden and terrible way. I feel so much overwhelming grief and such a sense of loss in her death. I knew that Laura was dealing with some medical problems, but I did not know that she was struggling so greatly in other ways. The fact that I did not know will always be difficult to accept.

The Laura I knew had an infectious laugh and zeal for life. She was honest, caring, compassionate, Godly, loyal, affectionate, and funny. She was one of my very closest friends and she will be greatly missed.

I am shocked by her death. One that was both sudden and violent. I am sad that her life was reduced to this. But, I know that for those of us that loved her she has always been, and will be, so much more than the sum of her death.

Laura was married to a husband that loved her. Their marriage was, to me, a great love story. A story of lasting love, and thriving against the odds. Watching Mike at the funeral grieve for his wife was beyond heartbreaking. Laura was also the member of an incredible family, her mother and sister are both amazingly strong, Godly women. Laura was also the mother of three beautiful girls-- these girls will be her legacy.

I can't wrap my head around this loss. I can't stop thinking of her and how she must have struggled these last years, and struggled at the end. She was loved, much-loved, and she will be sorely missed. I know that she is at peace now, but I am still overwhelmingly sad over how burdened she must have been over many months.

Laura was a cherished daughter, sister, mother, wife, and friend. She taught me what true friendship was. She showed me that even if days or weeks went by without contact we were still there for the "big" moments.

I can speak for all of us "girlfriends"-- Laura was a unique and much-loved friend. Our world is a little less bright now that she is not in it. But, we'll see her again. I have faith in that.