A photo that makes you angry/sad:
This photo makes me sad... I miss our friend Jim.
I love this picture. Its one of the many times Jim would come up from Orlando to my In-laws house and hang out with us during holidays or long weekends. Im in the middle, hubs is to my right and Jim is on my left... we use to call this move "The Jess Samamich". Jim passed away suddenly a few months ago in August. It broke mine and hubs hearts. He was a really wonderful friend. And he was my husbands first friend at college. Long before the hubs joined the Air Force he decided he'd try college away from home in Orlando, it was the first time he had ever lived on his own and gone to school. It wasn't easy... in fact it was really complicated juggling school, work and bills all at once, until he found Jim. Jim had been at college a little while before him and kind of took him under his wing and showed him the ropes... They soon became really good friends. A year and a half went by and hubs had to put the college dream on hold and go back home, but all the while keeping in touch with Jim. Distraught with what to do next he went to Jim for advice... he had always had the idea of a military career in the back of his mind but when he talked to Jim about it, he seemed to make that decision a little easier for him, having been in the Navy himself. Hubs still kept in contact with him all through Basic and Tech School and even when we lived 21 hours away in Oklahoma. We would go see Jim every chance we would get, when we would head home for the holidays or vacation. This past March he married the woman of his dreams a person so perfect for him you'd think that she made in a dream herself. Brief as the time was I am glad he got to experience how it feels to marry the love of your life. She is an amazingly strong woman and I can only hope to have the courage she has some day. I can't wait to see her this December when we go home for Christmas. He was a great man with a true heart of gold and the best friend anyone could ever have. Its times like this when I ask myself... why him? Why Jim... I am not religious and it is hard for me to comprehend when people tell me that it was "part of god's plan". I just hope that someday I will understand the meaning of it all, but for today... I'm just sad.