Well...

Stupido Myspace, not loading the "Radiator" video. X( Evil.
Once it decides to cooperate, I shall make more screenshots.

But until then, I has stuff to say.

Some of y'all remember my friend Sara. Well, her brothers got baptized last Sunday. :D It made me cry, thinking of their big sister; I bet she's still proud of them.
Now, I know netsirK and Jess know about it, Hannah knows to some extent, and I told Verja about it over chat.
But what about Ms Soul Skittles? Have I told you about Sara?

Well, for her and the rest who don't know, let me explain.

Sara was a normal girl... who became a close friend of mine back when nearly every kid my age avoided me like the PLAGUE. >:( We were inseperable for about a year. Sweet, sweet girl, even when we started drifting apart.

And yes, we drifted apart. But I still loved her.
And I was heartbroken when I first received the dreaded news. That Sara had a brain tumor. An inoperable brain tumor. A rare brain tumor that no one had ever survived before.

At first, she seemed no different. She just suffered from the occasional painful headache and that was it.
But she slowly started getting worse; it was especially apparent at the beginning of 2008. She began to lose her ability to keep her balance while standing, her headaches got worse and she developed double vision.
She ended up in a wheelchair and received glasses. And her face... well, let's just say every time I laid eyes on her face like it was, it seemed to scream that Sara was a shadow of her former self, and it made me somewhat miserable. This was what my dear friend had become? It made me feel horrible. Like I wanted to take her place.

The last I ever saw of her was on June 1, a Sunday. We were having a little party and she was joining in. :)
After that, I never saw her again. Apparently, she was getting worse and worse. And since she wanted to start coming to Sunday School again, we moved our service downstairs to the gymnasium, since the 2nd floor had only one way up, and it was stairs. We did this twice.

I heard one Tuesday after the 2nd Sunday we pulled this that Sara was rushed to the ER, unresponsive. I was fearing the worst already.
Then the next day came along. It started out normally, going to youth group and all. But then we were called to pray for Sara, and I went in. Our associate pastor gave us the news. Sara had died earlier that day.

I won't lie; I was crying within at least two seconds of the news. Her life was complete, now she was gone. It truly made me miserable; but to my surprise, Rusty actually came up and hugged me while I was mourning her. :)

A couple days later, I emailed her parents and told them how much of a blessing she was in my life; her funeral services came and it was... almost surreal.
I remember her father came in to our little circle and addressed us. How he called me out and thanked me for the email I sent. And my reply... that it was the least I could do.

All through that part of the procession (I don't remember what it's called!), I kept this one song in my head (I'll say in a minute) as I came to see Sara's body. I had kept my head until I saw her; I'm so glad I barely remember what she looked like there. :P I decided not to stay for the rest of the ceremony and we left.
But I'll never forget what Sara did for me. :)

And for the song...
It's by Phil Joel. It's a very touching song known as "Passing Angel." EXTREMELY beautiful, and even when I first heard it, it struck me as being perfect for a funeral. :P
There are only two verses to speak of, just repeated. And it stresses the beauty of the song. :)

We won't say goodbye.
This is not the end, we know.
Truly all who live must die.
But not all who live have truly been alive.

So I will celebrate your life.
Celebrate your faith.
Celebrate your love,
And the legacy you leave.

It fit Sara so perfectly... :) She was a special soul and certainly won't be forgotten.

November 29, 1993 -- July 2, 2008.
Truly all who live must die... but not all who live have truly been alive.

My dear Sara, I can't wait to see you again in Heaven. :)

And with that, I end. *bows*

CZYA