For Kim...

Thanksgiving has come and gone. This is always a bitter sweet time for me.
20 years ago on Thanksgiving Day a dear friend of mine, and the child she was pregnant with died in a horrific car accident. Her husband was almost paralyzed, others, including her other children, were seriously injured. The day burns in my memory like a white hot rod. I'll never forget the look on my mom's face when she got the phone call, turned and looked at me and started to cry. When I got the news I was destroyed. I was 15 years old. Already an over emotional out of control teenager. Kim was my neighbor I had developed a close friendship with and looked to her like an older sister. I babysat her children Jason and Rhea and when she was pregnant again, I was so excited to meet Karly Ann. She and her baby were taken from our world much too soon.
I also remember, soon after that we had an assignment in my drama class to write and perform a monologue. I poured my emotions into a very violent, dark monologue which consisted of my killing the man who killed my dear friend. Who crashed into their SUV with his semi-truck on a road he should have never been driving on. Who took my friends life so tragically. This was the only way I knew how to deal with it. The class was silent when I finished. I stumbled offstage in a rage of emotion. My teacher followed me out of the classroom and sat me down. He told me what I did was phenomenal. It was raw. It was real. That is my first memory of realizing I wanted to be an actor.
I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. Life is so strange that way. Time becomes an enemy. Love your friends. Love your family. Cherish your time, especially with those you love.
It took me a very very long time to get over the death of my friend. But now I look back and I'm thankful she was in my life. I'm thankful she touched me more than she will ever know. I'm thankful she pushed me towards my dream. I'm thankful I'm still in touch with her children. I'm thankful, and cried my eyes out from happiness, when I found out her daughter just gave birth to a baby girl she named Karly Hope. 20 years later. She's beautiful just like her mom, and just like Kim whose memory will live on in my heart forever.
I love you Kim and miss you every day.