SIX - A phone call to my best friend.
Before we get too far, I want to take a couple steps back and share a little about the night I had to call Alana about my tumour. When I received the news of the tumour I instantly thought of my family, Tanner's family, and Alana. Alana has just always been there (24 years), through the good and the bad, all of the ups and downs that life has thrown at me so far, she's my best friend. There just simply isn't something that Alana hasn't been a part of.
We have done it all, together! From singing "On Top of Spaghetti" in a school concert in Grade 1 in matching red and white outfits, to just a couple little girls having numerous beach days together and eating raw hot dogs haha! She joined my family for many camping trips and country concerts. She's been there through my bridal shower, wedding, and baby shower, and every significant or monumental moment in between. Most importantly, she's continued to be there for me on my most recent adventure of becoming a mom. Becoming a mom isn't always an easy task, and it puts a lot of other relationships on the back burner, but not this one. Alana has been there to share in all of the milestones for Wren, but also listens on the harder days of being a mom when I'm sleep deprived or frustrated. With all those big days behind me, I couldn't have imagined them without her, or even life in general for that matter. I can't wait to go through all of her big days with her, especially now that she is engaged!!!
It's safe to say that many people pick their own family, and that is what Alana is to me. After trying to compose myself before I called her on June 2nd, I knew this wasn't going to be an easy call. Telling my mom was the hardest, and thankfully someone else relayed the news to my sister via phone, because that call just wouldn't of been possible I don't think, as we would have both just been sobbing! Telling Alana would be a different kind of hard, because I have seen my family cry on numerous other occasions, but Alana is a tough cookie. It takes a lot for her to cry, but I knew having to hear her cry on the other end of the phone would be heart wrenching.
I remember having talked with my family for a bit that night and knowing before I went to bed, no matter the time, I had to call her. I had prefaced the call with a text that was a little alarming I'm sure, but I remember feeling like I needed to send the text before so she was a little prepared for the bomb I was about to drop. I was hoping I could soften the blow just a little.
Just before Tanner and I were getting ready to leave my parents house, I slipped downstairs to the make the call I had been putting off. My main worry was that I was going to be crying so much that I wouldn't be able to get anything out (in turn making everything more scary and confusing for her). The call again is a little blurry in my mind, almost like I blacked out, or maybe I have just not allowed myself to think about it or relive it. I remember her answering in a fairly panicked manner, as she had received my text quite a while before receiving the phone call. She instantly asks what is happening and wants more information, which I didn't have the answers to. I gave her what little information I had and told her that I should be hearing from London in the coming days with more details. I remember numerous silences on both ends as we just cried. I remember talking about my health and how I suffered from migraines for so long and how now it was all making a little more sense. The hardest part to say out loud was that I was going to need surgery. Again, a moment that hit me a little harder saying it out loud, queue the sobbing on both ends! The call ended with more tears and some words of encouragement from her. If there is one thing you should know about Alana, it's that she has a way with words (as she helps me with 99.9 percent of my editing of any piece of writing I do). She knew what I was feeling at that moment, and was there just to listen. You know you have a best friend when silence between two people is comfortable and even comforting.
The call was needed. The call was hard. The call in my memory is a little blurry. Most importantly, the call was comforting. Although I never want to make another call like this, its reassuring to know that no matter what, she's there!
There were and are many calls that followed this one, lots with laughter and the odd one with some tears, but I can confidently say, I wouldn't want it any other way!
LIFE LESSONS:
Family isn't always determined by blood. You can pick your own!
Friendships don't need to be work. Alana and I haven't lived in the same city since high school, but you would never know. If you can find someone that genuinely hurts when you hurt, smiles when you smile, puts you before themselves no matter what is going on in their own life, and someone who can pickup exactly where you left off with, that is a best friend, so hold onto them!
MEDICAL SUGGESTIONS:
As this post doesn't touch on any medical situation, all I can say is, medicine or no medicine, friends and family can make you feel a hell of a lot better 9 times out of 10!
Comments