(I truly have the world’s best friends. I thank God for each and every one of them…whether past or present. Fridays will be Friend Fridays on my blog, a day where I can introduce you to the special people in my life. Today’s post is dedicated to the most wonderful 3rd grade girl I know, Olivia Doyle. Enjoy! )
Upon meeting someone, I’m generally not a shy person. I might not be as loud as I would normally be, but that’s because I would scare everyone away. But I haven’t always been this way. In fact, when I first moved to Dalton, I was actually pretty shy. However, by the time I was in 3rd grade, that all changed. One bright eyed little girl would change my personality forever. Her name? Olivia Doyle.
I moved to Dalton in January of my first grade year. Being the new kid is hard enough but being the new kid in the middle of the year is a little bit more difficult. I didn’t have many friends in first grade, but luckily I was welcomed with open arms in the second grade. There were two specific girls in my class that I was determined to be friends with. One was Carter Patterson, and the other was Olivia Doyle. Sure there were other girls in the class, but I picked them. Carter (who will undoubtedly have her own blog in the future) was easy to be friends with. She was quiet and hardly said a word. So, because she didn’t talk, she couldn’t be mean. I liked her. But Olivia…she was different. She was the most self-assured 2nd grader I’ve ever known. She was sassy and determined. She wasn’t afraid to tell you what she wanted, and she knew how to get her way; truly a girl after my own heart. As the year went on, she and I had our issues (she didn’t always want to play with me or let me be in her club at recess. Oh! And there was the time she and another girl got BFF necklaces WITHOUT me…yea, I remember) but by the end of the year, we were pretty good friends. The next year was tragic though. Olivia and I weren’t going to be in the same classroom! I was pretty sad, but it was this year that she and I actually became the closest. We would play together at recess, and this is the year that I got to go to her house and spend the night! We had such big fun! I remember eating cookie dough, and making “fruit smoothies” for her big sisters while eating shrimp cocktail. We played her Nintendo 64 and danced on her pool table and played dress-up. Just for the record, she had the best house ever. An amazing game room, a ballet room and two teenage sisters rooms who weren’t ever home …what’s better than that!? Olivia and I had the best times. She was great and I loved her. In 5th grade, I moved to a different school. Olivia and I didn’t get to be as close as we were in 3rd and 4th grade, but we took dance together and I could see her then.
The summer before our 6th grade year, Olivia was in a horrible Jet Ski accident and died. I remember the day I found out more vividly than I remember a lot of things. It was late June, and I had been at home on a rainy day. I was cleaning out my backpack from school and I found a note from Hannah, a friend of mine, that I had saved from 4th grade. I started to miss my old friends, so I decided to call some of them. As I ended my message on Hannah’s phone, I started to call Olivia. It was great to call her because she had her own line and I thought that was wicked sweet. However, all of a sudden the urge to call her went away and I didn’t do it. I don’t know why, but I just thought “She probably won’t be at home” so I left it alone. About 20 or 30 minutes after I called Hannah, she returned my call. She asked me if I knew what had happened, and I told her I didn’t know what she was talking about. She then told me that Olivia had died. Obviously, I didn’t believe her, but then she started crying and reading an article from the newspaper about her death. I was devastated. I didn’t understand. I was confused. I had no words. I didn’t know what to do…it was sheer craziness. The very next day was her funeral, and I attended with my parents. I remember watching the casket come down the aisle and asking God why He took her and not me. After the funeral, we went to the burial ceremony. I pulled my dad to the side during the middle and asked him if we could leave. It was painful to be there and I just couldn’t stay any longer. I remember my dad hugging me tightly as I cried on the way back to the car. I remember looking back a couple of times, but that was it. She was gone.
Something I’ve always struggled with is being mad at God, but this is one of few instances where it is safe to say that I was very mad at him. I watched her family cry and hold each other and I was so mad that they had to deal with all those emotions. I so desperately wished I could have taken her place so that she would still be alive. I was sure that at some point I would wake up, and the bad dream would be over and she would still be here. But that wasn’t the case. I was here, on earth and Olivia was not.
It’s been 9 years since Olivia died, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t remember her or think of her. I smile thinking of her and have very good memories. I don’t visit her grave as much as I would like, but when I’m there it’s always a very peaceful and calm experience. I went on to middle school and befriended the girl who is still my best friend today. And although I’ve had plenty of friends over the years, I’ve never forgotten, nor will I ever forget that beautiful girl that sparked a change in me that would last forever.
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