True Friends are truly FOREVER!

A great way to measure a good friend from a great friend is to sit down with them for an afternoon when you two have not seen each other for almost 15 years, and to see how much laughter fills the room!  That is what we enjoyed today at the Henderson household.  My friend, Amanda Urban, is someone I have known since we were both 5 years old.  We met back in Kindergarten at Valapaiso Elementary School in Mrs. Cates class.  Here we are in line coming back from P.E. in January 1990 (I am the little blonde in the blue jacket and Amanda is next to me in the pink dress)

From Kindergarten to 5th grade, we were good friends and were fortunate to sometimes be in the same class, but always at the same school.  Today was so much fun remembering where we grew up, the friends that we knew, finding out what everyone is doing now and most importantly... what has happened over the last 15 years!

Amanda moved away in 1995 when we were in 5th grade.  I remember it being a sad time, having such a good friend that I felt like I knew FOREVER (6 years is a long time when you are only 11 years old!) have to move.  But, that is one of those thing about the Air Force/Military Life, most of us don't get to stay in the same spot for too long.  The good thing about is, you get to make friends from all over and they never become strangers!

In June 1997, Amanda was able to make a trip back down to Niceville to visit.  My mom snapped this picture of our friend Aleecia, Amanda and Me when they visited our house during her visit.

That was the last time I saw my good friend! Over the years I always wondered how Amanda was doing.  Well, today I was able to find out!  Last spring, I was able to locate Amanda via Facebook and we had kept up through message after message.  A little over a week ago, I got a message saying that her fiancé had moved onto our base and lives down the street .... and she was here for a visit!  I thought, 'What are the chances?'  So, today we had a great afternoon and I must say, I am super thankful for Facebook being able to connect up with an old friend who I thought I would never EVER see again!