Sad Times...

To ease another's heartache is to forget one's own.
~Abraham Lincoln

The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected.
~Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

This hasn't been an easy blog to sit down and write... but I really felt it was necessary to do so, before I blogged about anything else.

This week we said Goodbye to a girl that was much too young to die. She was a daughter to one of my childhood friends. A granddaughter to one of my Mom's best friends. And as it seems by the lines of people at her viewing last night... she was a friend to many.

Growing up... I had not one... but many families. My Mom and Dad had several really close "couple" friends... and their children were some of our best friends (*our* being my sisters and brother). We all grew up together... their parent's treated us like we were their own... and our parents were the same way.

So hearing the news that Stephanie had died... crushed a little bit of my heart. She was young... much too young.

Seeing everyone at the viewing last night broke my heart.

Why do we wait until something like this happens to see each other. To hug each other and to tell everyone how much we love them???

My friend Chrissy (she was Stephanie's Aunt) hugged me and cried into my shoulder and said "I've missed you, Jodi"

I know that as normal people... we grow up. We have families, careers, etc and it makes it hard to see each other. It's hard to stay in touch. But it hurts. It hurts to know that we let friendships slide, or that we let people take backseats in our life until maybe it's too late.

Call an old friend... write them a note... reach out. Don't let it be sadness that reconnects you.

In honor of Stephanie, I will post her memorial.
Stephanie Mullen, 22, from Athens, Pa., was taken to her grandfather’s awaiting arms on Sept. 21, 2008.

She was born Aug. 12, 1986 at the Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pa. the daughter of Brian and Melissa Larrabee Mullen.

She attended Athens Area High School graduating in 2004.

Stephanie loved to be outside hiking and playing softball. She enjoyed getting tattoos. She loved spending time with her family and friends. To be in her presence was to feel love and kindness. She was a small woman who loved big and made you smile just by walking in the room.

Steph’s big heart led her in many directions. It led her to defend people who could not defend themselves, to comfort those in pain, to love those who are hard to love and to try to fix everyone’s problems. Her spirit will live on through all she touched.

She is predeceased by her grandfathers’, Harmon Larrabee, Jr. and Harold Mullen; her great-grandparents, Harmon and Hannah Larrabee and Louie and Marcella Packard.Stephanie is survived by her parents, Brian and Missy Mullen; her sister, Jennifer Mullen; her grandmothers’, Sue Larrabee and Shirley Mullen; her aunts and uncles, Crissy and Wendell Galasso, Harmon and Cathy Larrabee, Gary and Ricki Mullen, Karen Forbes, Laura and Bill Sargaent, Jimmy and Tammy Mullen; several cousins and many friends.

Steph was surrounded by many special people, some of which she shared a special bond, her boyfriend, Jessie Clark; her best friend, Vito Gronazio; and her special children (cousins), Lauren “T” Galasso, “David Joe” Galasso, Lilly “Tiny” Galasso and Harmon “Midge” Larrabee. They will remember her for her big kid attitude, her love of them and everything they do.

Friends and family may call on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Jay E. Lowery Funeral Home, Inc., 225 South Main Street, Athens, Pa. Funeral services will be held Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008 at 11 a.m. with Tammy Salsman officiating.