When I met her for the first time, it was over pasta in a tiny German restaurant.  She sat at one end of the table and I at the other, separated by a handful of women and a tangle of conversations.  But in the midst of it all, she was smiling and sparkly and caught my eye.  We were introduced and she laughed at my jokes, so obviously I loved her.  I knew we had mutual friends, I knew she went to church with those I knew and I knew she homeschooled but beyond that, she was just a lovely, glittery-eyed friend of Rachel’s with an awesome sense of humor.

A few months later, our mutual friends started to ask for volunteers for the Relay for Life event coming up.  They said it was for a very specific person and that she really needed not only our prayers and support but our feet as well.  There again were those sparkly eyes but this time, I got to know her a bit better.  We walked a few laps together, she shared her story and I did my best to share the gifts God has given me with her by documenting the event.  I briefly met and chatted with her husband and kids and quietly shed tears as I watched her staying strong through the pain of it all.  At the end of the day, she hugged me long and hard, as if I was an old dear friend.  I was hooked on Aana.

Since then, she has changed my life.  I heard somewhere that people with cancer become the cool kids and suddenly everyone wants to be their friend.  If that is true…than of that I am guilty.  But there is something different about Aana.  There is something so lovely and endearing about her (that has NOTHING to do with cancer) and I see people just fall in love with her from very early on.  She blogs about her life in a very real way.  She shares the pain and the struggle yet always manages to give God the glory through it all.  No…she doesn’t sugar coat it or try to hide the hard stuff.  She is so honest and real, so strong and bold…she is just amazing in a thousand different ways.  And she has changed my life, even down to the most basic and daily tasks, that I can never begin to share with her how much she has blessed me.  Has she blessed you also?  I am so sure of it!

Her cancer is very aggressive.

I want to erase that last statement because it hurt me to re-read it.  But it’s true.  And while anyone who knows and loves her is praying for a miracle and trusting God’s will for her and her family’s life, there is still a certain fact to her disease.

As I read her blog posts and kept up with her updates, I felt like God was really putting it on my heart to just go and be with her and I couldn’t ignore it. She had mentioned a few wishes to have her family photos done, knowing that time could be short, and so…I told her she had no choice and I was going to be there.  Looking back, I question if that was rude or if I was unwanted and both may be rightfully true.  But I went anyway.

This is where it gets REALLY cool.  We are both from military families and have spent the better half of our lives moving all over the world. We have had to say good-bye to friends and loved ones more times than I prefer but always with the knowledge that we will run into each other again in the most random times and locations.  In steps a friend from high school.

There is this very dear woman living in Las Vegas (where Aana lives also) whom I have know since high school.  While we weren’t friends in school, we became quite smitten with each other in the last five years!  Her name is Courtney and she LIGHTS up the room when she walks in.  I contacted her the day I booked my ticket to let her know that I would be in her area next week but wouldn’t be able to see her this specific trip.  “Don’t be mad if you see I’m in Vegas and didn’t call you!”  But I also needed her help.  I wanted to be the least of a burden as possible on Aana and her family so my plan was to have a nice, yummy dinner delivered from a restaurant nearby.

Remember how I told you that Courtney is amazing?  Instead of giving me the info on nearby restaurants, she decided to feed us all herself.  Get this!  She picked me up from the airport AND had bags of food (separated by meal) ready for me to bless Aana’s family with.  She handmade Chicken Parmesan and garlic rosemary cauliflower for dinner but also provided homemade Banana bread for breakfast, sandwich wraps for lunch and homemade cookies for dessert.  She included EVERYTHING from grapes to fresh soft parmesan, after school snacks for the boys and cut up baguette for a dinner side!  I was in TEARS looking through it all!

And the coolest part?!  She unknowingly threw in Aana’s exact K Cup coffee (which Aana had on the list to get because they were out), she added Aana’s favorite girl scout cookies, a box of tea for Jack (he is a tea aficionado), and the boys favorite yogurt drinks…without even knowing they were favorites or in need!  And she made so much of everything (and it was all SO good) that Jack and Aana had left overs to enjoy!

I got in early in the morning and just in time to take Aana to her radiation appointment. After the treatment (and enjoying those delicious girl scout cookies) we spent the entire day talking. When she needed to rest, it was such a peaceful joy to just BE with her.  We talked about anything and everything and found such common ground on parts of life we didn’t know we shared.  Between bites of Courtney’s delicious blessings, we laughed at the good and cried over the hard.  We hugged, we prayed, I probably held her hand uncomfortably too long but it was just such a day I never wanted to end.

She allowed me to be a part of her life for that day.  To lead her to the big scary doctors office with the nice ladies that smile and speak sweetly to you, even though it feels really uncertain as to what is behind those doors and piles of paperwork. To sit in the back seat along side those three beautiful children of hers, recounting the school day events and discussing homework plans.  To cook in her kitchen and flip through her memory books, recounting stories and introducing me to the photo faces of her family…she let me in to her life in such a real and tangible way that it just solidified all I thought I knew to be true of Aana.  She is just as loving and giving and kind and brave and real as I felt had to be true.

Jack is an amazing pianist and would throughout the day, sit down and play some beautiful pieces for us to enjoy.  I would close my eyes and just cry at the sound of it.  Hymns, classics, some fast and some slow…he provided a living soundtrack to our time and I know it wasn’t just because I was there.  It made me tear up all over again to think of that amazing gift of comfort he daily offered up to Aana.  I can’t imagine, as a spouse, what it must feel like to not be able to remove the pain and discomfort from the one you love most but it seemed his music was the small but powerful gift he slid across the table towards Aana, hoping to take what ugliness she may feel and replace it with beauty.  I could be making all of this up but from the blanket of notes I felt being wrapped around my shoulders for just being there one day, I had a hard time not believing it to be true of every other day.

I went down there to take family photos for a person I loved dearly but didn’t really know all that well.  And I came back that next morning completely and deeply moved by the amazing Blalock family.  Thank you all for letting me in.  There aren’t enough words in the world, minutes in the day, or uncomfortably long hand holding sessions for me to tell you how much you mean to so many. While cancer doesn’t seem fair or make sense and my words may seem contrite, Aana…this life you have lived has blessed others.  Your husband, your children, your family, your friends, and even people you might not know but who know you…you have made all of our lives better.  Thank you for loving the Lord, for sharing His love with others and for being such a shining example of hope, gratitude and grace for us all!   I love you sweet friend.