By: Laurie Cagle
I was fortunate to grow up
with Carol in junior high and high school and my memories with her are many and
precious to me - she was a large part of what I consider to be some of the best
years of my life. At a time when you’re
just figuring out what life is all about, it makes a huge difference who you’re
surrounded by and I was blessed to have Carol’s friendship. In fact, there was a group of about eight of
us who spent the better part of those years growing up together and we all have
some incredible memories of which Carol was a huge part. Whether it was football games, proms, lead
outs, Rebel Girls (school hostesses J), beach trips, lake trips, ski trips, youth retreats, classes,
swimming at Wald Park or whatever, we were all doing it together. Of all of those great times together,
however, one of the fondest to me is the Bible Study we were in throughout the
majority of our time in high school. On
Thursday afternoons, our group would often meet at Carol’s house after school
and Trudy, our Young Life leader, would lead us through a lesson and we’d pray
together. It was such a blessing and
little did I know at the time how foundational those times would be for life.
Though we lost touch after
going to college, I was blessed to see her just last August at our 30 year high
school reunion. Amazingly, most everyone
from our group was able to make it. I
remember Carol was the first one I saw when I walked into the restaurant and
she hadn’t changed a bit. She was
grinning from ear to ear and laughing that unforgettable laugh - I can still
hear her now! We had a wonderful
visit. After so many years, it was like we
picked up right where we left off, the connection as familiar and easy and warm
as ever. I felt like we were sitting in
her living room for Bible study all over again.
She was strong, her faith was strong and I was stronger for having been
with her. When the reunion was over
later that night and I was driving home, I remember feeling so full and so
thankful for the time we were able to spend together - that all of us were able
to spend together – and so, so thankful for the rich blessing of her friendship.
“We always give
thanks to God for you…as is only
fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love
of each one of you toward one another grows ever
greater.”
