I've been planning my June wedding for a while now. Serena and I had emailed about it 6 months ago or so...Knowing how disorganized i am, she shared her list of important things and checked off each one i had accomplished to show me how easy it was and how it was all coming together despite how overwhelmed i felt!

Since she passed i've been dreading the big day and just how i would remember her on that day and how she could still be there with me. I've planned a memorial table to pay tribute, a contribution to her scholarship fund in my guests name....

Now, I doscovered today, quite by accident, that the flowers i have chosen for my wedding just so happen to be the "Serena" variety of Gerbera daisies!!! I knew she would find a way to be there with me...That, so far, has been the best part of the wedding planning!

Serena and I were always at each others house..We lived less than a mile from each other. We rode bikes back and forth or walked. One day we decided we were fed up and we were running away...oh yes, far far away! We packed up some personal belongings and snacks of course and rode off down the street. We had gone farther than we ever had and i think we both just wanted to turn around and go home! It might have been the ferocious barking dog in the one yard that helped us make up our minds.

I went home that night and was so relieved to see my mom. I think i went back to Serenas the next day and planned another escape though!!

One thing Serena and I had in common was the love of animals, for a while she was the only person I knew who had more pets than I did. Not only did she care for her two dogs (Missy and Ashley) and several cats, but also fed 20 to 30 stray cats, even after she moved from her place in Honesdale she continued to take them food each week. While living in Honesdale, Missy was outside eating the ground hogs, Ashley was eating through the bedroom doors, the stray cats were sitting on the outside of each window looking in when the food ran low and Kittens were breaking in through the front porch floor. More animals broke into her place than broke out. Serena was an animal magnet and took care of those who needed her.