friendship and pedicures

devon, christa, carlee and ruth

so...i was reading my girlfriend devon's blog - if you would like to check it out yourself click here - i realized that i have posted all these blogs and haven't mentioned two very important people in my life - devon and ruthie. they both know why i am doing this and i think they would know the importance of being mentioned in a *blog* (smirk).
ruthie and i have been friends since our college days at westmont and ended up sparking a friendship our sophomore year. the summer of 99 we found ourselves in a tight knit group of friends and living together through our jr and sr years. ruthie is very much opposite of me and very much a soul mate of a friend. she transcends black and white logic into a spectrum of colors and sometimes techno-color lights and is able to not only plan a party, but put the life into it. she has this amazing heart that holds all the wounded inside it and makes time for anyone that asks it of her. she has this amazing knack for truly honoring someone, which in this very selfish age is a sparkling phenomenon. the great thing about our friendship is that we have often confronted each other, which isn't necessarily great, but the great thing is that we not only work ourselves through that confrontation, but always end up crying and spewing love for each other in between sobs. it has made our friendship stronger, in fact it has made it life-long material. ruthie recently found a special boy and made a move to dallas. the separation was very hard, to make it sound trite, but truly the best choice for her at this point in her life. when bry and i moved to long beach ruth introduced us to devon, who for a while lived across the path from her in the alvocado in LB.
devon is this amazing spirit. always with a smile on her beaming face and always there for everybody. devon spends probably 2/3 of her day helping someone out. she has an amazing gift for getting the perfect gift for everyone she knows, for putting everyone above herself. she also is the party planner and her and ruthie could produce a successful business if they ever got their acts together! devon is a teacher of english to adults and that should speak volumes on her patience if nothing else. when bryan and i had bryson devon organized all our friends together to get gift cards at local restaurants so that we wouldnt have to worry about cooking for the first couple weeks - complete with menus and everything, which i still think is probably one of the most thoughtful gifts i have ever received. she always has a present for bryson when he visits and her giving spirit and optimism keep me balanced.
one more thing about devon...she happens to have brain cancer.
i dont know what is going on with our age group and why it seems like cancer is becoming a disease that is starting to affect people younger and younger each year. my girlfriend sarah vanderwerf was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma and toward the middle of her chemo treatment i learned my cousin betsy was diagnosed with hodgkins lymphoma. since their diagnosis' one of bryan's friends friends from high school was battling testicular cancer and another friend from college also was in remission for testicular cancer. my world has been turned upside down the past two years. my invincibility factor was severely diminished and i have been downright terrified. i traded in my teflon pans, i switched to cloth diapers, i switched (mostly) to less toxic chemicals...i have to pause here to say that while white vinegar is amazing at most household cleaning, bleach is so powerful at getting the nasty mold that invades the house we are living in and i need to give it up, but cant seem to make that leap. i started buying organic when i can afford it, but with meats and dairy i try always to buy organic. i started our organic vegetable garden and compost pile, i try to support businesses that are conscious of our environment. this isnt to toot my horn, or put a spotlight on how *green* i am - because my reasoning behind all of this is not to save our planet...that truly is a bonus and i do believe we have a calling to be stewards of the earth and take that seriously, but in reality my main motivation is keeping my family as safe and healthy as possible. i just cant believe that people our age who are starting their lives and families should have to deal with life-threatening illnesses.
devon has inspired me. her optimism and also her tenacity to fight not only the cancer, but her insurance and doctors and i marvel that she is taking it all upon herself. marvel and wish she would let others do for her what she does for everyone else.
devon and ruthie - this blog is for you and for your impact on my life and how special the two of you are to me and how you each continue to inspire me and motivate me to be the type of friend you two are to me.