Jena

My friend Jena died this morning. My dad called to tell me this afternoon. I am so sad for her parents. And I can't believe that she is gone. Jena has always been there, just a house away from home. Her family already lived there when we moved onto the street. I wasn't even three yet. So I don't remember much before Jena and I were friends. Our birthdays were 12 days apart, and we always celebrated those together. We went to school together and we played together for days on end, then "hung out" together once we outgrew playing, watching TV and videos, listening to Motley Crue and Guns N' Roses, and experimenting with makeup. I borrowed her clothes when we would go out dancing. The summer after we graduated from high school, we got old enough to sit on her porch in the summer drinking Diet Cherry Cokes and listening to Garth Brooks. She permed my hair when she was in cosmetology school, and teased me that I looked too much like a co-ed when I wore sweats at home for the entire Christmas break. And for years and years we talked. I would get in trouble in high school for talking on the phone with her for too long. Later, she was the nearby listening ear for long hours when my parents were getting divorced. And even though we ended up running in different crowds and taking different paths in life, we always visited when I went home. And even though I'll still visit her parents, I really will miss visiting her.