6.24.09

Today I lost a very good friend of mine. My friend Erika had been suffering from an eating disorder for as long as I can remember, and we became friends our freshmen year of high school. She dealt with this on and off and I had always hoped when I saw her at her normal weight that she had finished with it, beat it. Erika was a beautiful woman. She had a kind heart but always had a snappy/snarky comment for you when you needed it. She is the only friend of mine from high school that always sent me Christmas cards and birthday cards. She always let me know how much I meant to her. We had lost touch over the past couple of years, as friends do from time to time. And we were beginning to try to find the time to get together a couple of weeks ago after she had just spent a few months in treatment for her eating disorder. When we talked after she got out, it was the first time that she openly admitted to me that she had a problem, but it was one of those things that was always there and that we both knew about. Today at 2:30pm Erika died of a heart attack at almost 27 years old.

Because it feels better I want to tell you about some of the things we did together. She was one of my bridesmaids. Her nickname is high school was Bogie. We threw a party at a friends house when he wasn't in town. We worked on yearbook together. We stayed out way too late, and got in to trouble together. We went to Atlanta together in high school. She held my hair back and I held her hair back after long nights of drinking. She came to see Marley after she was born. She drove a bright blue Dodge Neon when those things were "cool". We almost ended our friendship over a guy named Matt that worked at Target. We were each others dates to dances. We stayed up late talking to her Mom, Edna. We would go to TJ's Diner in South County and drink coffee and smoke cigarettes all night long. She was terrified of babies. We worked at New Lady Fitness together. She took me out for my 21st birthday and got me to sing karaoke. We liked guys that were going off to SEMO. We watched the Cardinals win the world series while drinking at some bar in South County. She was a cheerleader, a big sister, a daughter, a girlfriend, a best friend. We sewed our wild oats together.

My 21 st Birthday

Erika, and the cowboy at my Bachlorette party, got to love this one.

Erika the bridesmaid.

Can't explain this one.

Before Sweetheart Dance with our bestfriend Kaye.

Senior Prom, Erika, Kaye and I

I will miss her smile, her humor, her cards, and the beautiful person she was and always will be.