When you’re young, you feel that the friends you have will last forever. As day-care grows into kindergarten, and kindergarten grows into grade-school, and grade-school grows into high-school, and high-school grows into the great beyond, we tend to make and lose friends rather quickly. Some friends last, some remain in our hearts and minds, but not in our lives. Some are really great friends that are a shame to part with, and some are some really incredible acquaintances we gather along the way.
I don’t know if it’s too much to say, but I did consider Erika Hauber(-Kimbiris) a friend. We didn’t really hang out a lot, as a matter of fact, she was one of those “friends-through-friends” where it always took another friend to be present for us to really get the chance to hang out. When we did, she was great.
Sadly, Erika finally succumbed to breast cancer after fighting it for almost 6 years. At 31, she fought valiantly since her mid-20s; something not a lot of people can actually say. From her stint at Ursuline and the friends she kept, I felt that I knew her well enough to consider her definitely worthy of a friendship. She was my little sister’s “big sister” on the track team. She was my friend Emily’s best friend, and she was my boy Danny’s best friend. That pedigree told me all I needed to know.
At 32 years old, I don’t think I’m quite used to seeing friends’ names in the obituaries. Last night, when I read The News Journal, I saw Erika’s obituary and I was floored. It didn’t seem right that someone with that much spunk is no longer in the world. My most heartfelt and sincere prayers go out to those who knew her much better and loved her much more than I. She was a great girl and there’s definitely a gap in a lot of lives right now.
Keeping that in mind, if you’re moved to do something, I’d recommend visiting one of these two links:
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