Today I am in mourning. This morning at 6:00 am Wendy from Rapid Life left this cold place we call South Dakota to begin her paradisacal adventures in Hawaii. I've known Wendy for almost 3 years now. Being in a military ward, about 1/3 of our members are military families, we have many move ins and move outs regularly, as well as frequent deployments. This has advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages are that we get "new blood" so to speak, to revitalize our ward and keep it exciting. Another advantage somebody shared with me shortly after we moved here was that if you didn't like someone, they would most likely be gone in a couple of years. We have seen many ward members come and go. Some of them we have been sadder to see leave then others. ;) Seriously though, it has been hard to get to know these good people and then watch as they move on. I hate saying goodbye! It really stinks sometimes.
Wendy has been a good friend and good example to me. Wendy was the Primary President in our ward for 2 years. I was priviledged to serve with her as Primary Secretary for about a year and a half of that time. She was a great Primary President. As you can imagine our primary, because of the aforementioned militaryness of it, has its own set of unique challenges. One of those biggest challenges was staffing the primary. Between people moving and being deployed or leaving while their spouse was deployed, it was hard to keep our primary staffed. It seemed as soon as we got each position in the primary filled and running smoothly it was time for another deployment or someone would move. Wendy seemed to handle the challenge and the accompanying stress rather well.
Not only this, but Wendy is a great mom. She has four great kids to prove it. So today I would like to say thanks to Wendy for being such a great friend, person, mom and for all the service she has given to our ward. She and her family will be greatly missed!! Luckily though it seems as if they will be back after a few years in Hawaii. And luckily I can still read her blog. :D
Aloha Wendy, Nathan, Hannah, Sydney, Emily and John.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
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5 people have something to say:
What a nice post about Wendy! She is one great mom and such a fun sister. I've always looked up to her (though I am a good 2 inches taller). I'm glad to know people love her wherever she may be!
I've never met Wendy, but I'll bet she's just as great IRL as she is on her blog.
Yay for blogs, especially for those that are far away! :)
:( Aloha Wendy.
I remember when I read that she was moving and you were all like "boo hoo".
I hate it when friends move, because it’s most likely good for them, but sad for me, so I'm supposed to feel happy but it's still sad.
Nice post Amanda.
I agree completely with NCS....it's so hard to say goodbye....and it was a very nice post about Wendy and friendship. What we all need now is a virtual hug!
**big hug!**
I know the feeling you describe...we lived in a student ward for four years, and it was so rough seeing people come and go. The worst was when some awesome people moved in just nine months before we were leaving ourselves. We wanted to get to know them, but didn't want at the same time. It was bizarre. Ugh...so hard to lose a friend to distance...~hugs~
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