Trying to put words to the love and memories of Chris I hold in my heart seems an impossible task; not one word in the English dictionary seems to suffice. Writing down the memories seems an inadequate representation of who Chris was and how she made me feel, and yet, sharing about her seems so right because her life had such an enormous impact on me and many others. She taught me so many things about life and she influenced the way I think and the way I do many tasks. I have a Flour Mill because of her; I made my own baby wipes because of her; I use essential oils because of her; I play with my children more and use electronics less because of her. There are countless ways she influenced my life, and affected the way I do things.
I first met Chris in high school. Chris and Joe and Matt and I represented 4 consecutive years of Faith Christian School's graduating classes. Joe was Class of 94, Chris was Class of 95, Matt was Class of 96, and I was Class of 97. We loved to reminisce about high school, especially sports and teachers. We teased Chris and Joe about a particular locker room rendezvous that happened back then, but I'll let Joe explain that! Chris and I really became close after high school when Joe was away at college. I honestly don't even remember why or how we began spending so much time together during college, but I'm forever grateful that we did.
After Joe and Chris got married and moved to St Louis, Matt and I made many visits there. We weren't even married yet when we started going to visit them. In those pre-child years we would spend a lot of time exploring the city, visiting museums and Union station, touring the brewery and the arch, and eating out. We also loved visiting over Labor Day weekend when their church there held a sand volleyball tournament. We had a lot of fun playing in that tournament!
As the children began arriving, we continued to enjoy time with them doing more things such as playing at the park, visiting the zoo, grilling out, and playing games. As the children got older, we spent a lot of time playing all sorts of games and sports with them. We loved meeting them at different parks for camping trips. Chris loved to let the kids have fun; I mean, not everyone has a trampoline in their living room, etc... Joe always wanted the guys to play basketball when our boys got old enough, but sometimes Chris and I could get them to play Novak v Fassler family volleyball.
Chris and I especially loved baking together. Once, before either of us were married, we did some Christmas baking. Chris always had new recipes she wanted to experiment with, and that year she wanted to try some candied orange peels. They turned out very bitter and we got a lot of laughs out of how terrible they were. We would get together often in the fall to do baking also. We'd make applesauce and pumpkin pie and pumpkin bars and apple dumplings. Sometimes it was like a science experiment trying to accommodate both families' allergies. Once we tried to make dairy free scalloped potatoes with tofu, and all of us spent many hours in the bathroom following that meal. That gave us many laughs also!
I remember one winter that I took my family to the water park resort near Chris and Joe's house. The day we were heading back home there was a snow storm. Chris called me and all but begged us to come stay with them instead of driving home in the snow. She scrounged up snow gear for everyone so that we could all go sledding and play in the snow. Then we had hot drinks and enjoyed the warmth of being inside together in the snow storm.
Chris and I had quite the reputation with our husbands for how we'd talk and talk and talk and talk. When we were younger we'd stay up until the wee hours of the morning just talking, but as we aged and became mothers we couldn't stay awake as late anymore. We could never get enough talking done!
I loved Chris so much! I'd send her texts just to say, "How's it going? I miss you! I just need a friend." And she'd do the same. Sometimes I'd just get to feeling a little lonely, and she was that long time comfort friend. She called me and I came to stay with her during one of her miscarriages just to comfort her and cheer her up and take care of her. I will always remember that. I remember her naming the first baby she lost when they were able to tell her it had been a boy. She loved her children so much, and each miscarriage was a very deep loss to her. She was an amazing mother, and to me she was an amazing friend.
One thing I greatly admired was the way she could start a conversation with anyone anywhere. If we were checking out at the grocery store or walking down the sidewalk, she'd think of a question to ask and have a little conversation with everyone. She was always learning from people, studying, listening, and putting things into action. I hope and pray that I can have the kind of impact on others that she had.
There are so many more things I want to say about her, and maybe some day I can share more. For now, I think this is a small glimpse of the amazing friend she was to me. I hope I was as good to her as she was to me. I will be forever changed because of knowing and loving her.