Happy Birthday, Mom.

May 27, 1947-November 15, 2002

Doesn’t matter how long it’s been, how old we are, or what the circumstances are… we’re allowed to always miss our parents when they’re gone. And mama, I still miss you every day.

This post is dedicated to Rebecca Suzanne Koop Rackley.

Bec and I have been best friends our entire lives. Like, quite literally our entire lives. Our moms worked at the same hospital, we were in diapers together, Daisy Girl Scouts together, elementary school, middle school, high school, and in 2009, I was a bridesmaid in her wedding.

We’ve been through everything together. Through thick and thin… and let me tell you, there’s been a whole lot of thick. Or is it thin that’s the bad stuff? You know what I mean. Other people have come and gone, but Bec has always been there. We can (and often do) go a few months without talking on the phone, but it’s not for any bad reason… we are just busy, but we both know that the moment we pick up the phone and call each other, we’re right back where we left off. My friendship with Bec is one that will last a lifetime.

We’re different in a lot of ways. She’s so adventurous, outdoorsy, and beautiful. I, too, love being outside, I am just not a fan of bugs, or darkness, or things that might eat me… and I’m rather awkward. She snowboards. I can make a snowball. She rides an ATV and mountain bikes, I have a 1970-something flippin’ sweet Huffy with a flat tire that has sat on my porch for a minute. But none of that matters. We both laugh a whole lot, we love life, and we love each other.

When my mom got sick, Bec was there. When my grandfather died, Bec was there. When my mom’s family turned their back on us, Bec was there. When my mom was going through treatment after treatment, Bec was there. When boyfriends came and went, Bec was there. And when my mom died, Bec was there. Not only was Bec there, but so was her little brother (and by little brother, I mean the giant man that just graduated from college) Nick, and her mom Suzi. They have always made me feel like I’m a part of their family. And, of course, I’ve been there for Bec.

I say all of this because last Spring, Bec moved to Colorado. SO FAR AWAY. But she’s “in town” this weekend! And by “in town” – I mean she’s on the same coast. So this afternoon, I’m driving four hours to the Outer Banks for the day to see my Best Friend. I haven’t seen her in over a year, but I know it will be just like it was when she left.

I am so incredibly grateful, thankful, and blessed for my best friend. I can’t wait till we’re like, 95 years old and still listening to mix CD’s we made in the 5th grade, and reading our journal we shared, and calling each other Pheby and Buckaroo, and saying things in weird voices, and quoting “Airplane” because we’ve seen it over 10,000 times at that point.

Think about the person in your life that’s always been there, and tell them how much you love them.

Sleepover in 7th grade. Oh, the horrors of our awkwardness.

College

All for now.

Once again, I’ve fallen off the updating wagon. Ah, whatever. Who cares?

It’s been a month and a half since my last update. I swear, I’m not some recovering blogger or something… but the past few months have been nuts, and the past month and a half, ah, well, two months, has been even more nuts.

We finally launched Chapelboro.com. I quite literally feel like I birthed an interactive-internet-local-media-website infant baby. Although I have not given actual birth yet, from what I hear, it’s strenuous and painful. You bleed, sweat, and cry a lot. But in the end, you bring something into the world that you are proud of. And those feelings (including the blood, sweat, and OH THE TEARS), are the feelings I’ve had working on this website.

It sounds trivial, but it couldn’t be more true.

I don’t usually like to use the term “proud” because overly prideful people can sometimes be ugly people. Humility is so important. But I am dadblamed proud of that website and what it not only means for the community of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, but what it means to me, personally. It’s almost symbolic of my journey over the last two years that I’ve lived in North Carolina.

When I first started working at 1360 WCHL (Chapel Hill-Carrboro’s News Talk and Tar Heels Station), I had three other jobs. I was working part-time for the radio station and part-time for three other businesses. I was dying in a lot of ways. I worked my tail off. But I took the job at WCHL with the mindset of, work your tail off and show them why they need to hire you full-time.

So, I worked my tail off. I worked WAY more hours than I was actually paid for and I took the job and made it my own. And in a matter of a little over two and a half months, my boss approached me and offered me a full-time job working for the station. I could finally quit my other jobs.

So, I took the full-time job. The salary wasn’t great, it was going to be tough to make ends meet and I wasn’t going to be eating out or vacationing much, but I had great benefits, a great opportunity, and a full-time job. I took that job with the mindset of, work my tail off and show them why they need to give me a raise and/or promote me.

So, I worked my tail off. I worked WAY too many hours. I learned how to do things outside of my actual job description. And I gained a ton of invaluable knowledge and experience. And, 7 months later, I got a promotion. I was promoted to “Duchess of Digital Media” (best job title EVAR) and I was going to be in charge of the launch of Chapelboro.com. The website had been over a year in the making. I sat in on preliminary meetings, consulted on names, logos, taglines, designs, colors, content. You name it.

I have never worked so hard on anything in my entire life. And I’ve worked hard on a lot of things. But I am really proud of what came out. Sure, there’s still some kinks to work out with it. Okay, a lot of kinks. But hey, it’s the nature of the beast.

Again, I don’t write all of this to sound bragadocious (sweet word) or prideful. I write it to share that you can do anything. With the right mindset and the right work ethic, you can do anything.

I’ve learned so much in the past year and a half and I know I have so much more to learn. I am not where I want to be… yet. But now I have the mindset of, work my tail off, learn a lot, and change the world and stuff like that.

I am so blessed and so incredibly grateful. I can’t thank God, my family, and my friends enough for the support I’ve had throughout the last year, two years, seven years, my entire life. When life smacks me in the face, life backhands itself right back and shows me how lucky I am. (Does that even make sense? It does to me.)

I’m tired. I’ve had one day off in two+ months. But I am okay. I’m like my own proverbial Thomas the Tank Engine.

Also, I get to see my best friend, Bec, this weekend. So I have that to look forward to.

And, of course, as my mother used to say, “This, too, shall pass.”

I apologize if this post made absolutely no sense whatsoever. But I miss writing. And I felt like putting my stream of consciousness down on paper.

Also, on another note, I’ve lost 20 pounds so far. BOOM BROADS!

And, yet, another note… I’ve raised half the money I need for my mission trip to Kenya!! Wahoo!!

All for now.