on our way back in to town today, as always, we drove by the gateway mall in springfield. every time i see this mall i am reminded of tamara. that was the first place we met.
i knew her for a very short time but i am forever grateful for that time. tamara was the first person i met when we moved to eugene. in fact, she emailed me before we even got here to introduce herself and tell me we should get together. she offered to show me around eugene and told me that her little man was about the same age as kinsley. i was a little nervous to be moving away from our family and friends to a place where we knew very few people. but tamara's email took some of that anxiety away. it was such a kind gesture and really gave me the feeling of, "okay. we WILL meet people and i WILL make friends here."
we got together for the first time on november 30th, 2011. it was a horribly rainy day so we brought the kids to the play area to run some of their energy out. kinsley and grayson took to each other almost immediately. they ran their little hearts out and actually talked to each other while they played. it was so neat to watch them - at just over 2 years old it was more usual for them to play alongside other kids, but they were actually playing TOGETHER.
while the kids played, tamara and i had coffee and just talked. we found out very quickly that we had a lot in common. we were married on the same day (along with a million other couples, but that's beside the point!). grayson and kinsley were born within two weeks of each other. we both loved animals. grayson came over at one point and said, "we have two horses. their names are spydey and topaz." the look on tamara's face was that of such a proud mama. grayson talks just as much as kinsley does! we both really enjoyed running and had done multiple half marathons. tamara talked about all of the places around eugene that we could go running together. we talked about training for the eugene half coming up in april. we talked about our kids. grayson and kinsley both love humus and eat it by the spoonful. we talked about christmas. tamara suggested that we go shopping for the holidays together. she said it's always nice to shop with someone, but it's just a different world shopping with a kid and it would be nice to have someone to share that with - people without children just don't quite get it the same way. and we both loved wine :) we talked for probably two hours while the kids played. we had only just met, but i already felt like we were going to be great friends. how could we not be?
on january 13th, 2012, this world lost a beautiful person. tamara made such an impact on me in the short time i knew her that i can not even begin to imagine the loss that her family and other friends feel. there are so many things that remind me of her - different trails around eugene, anytime i see a horse, every time we see grayson (which is often - we have swimming at the Y twice a week and see him in his classroom). i can't help but think about all of the things we talked about doing together. i can't help but feel an immense loss - like i'm missing out on an amazing friendship and there's nothing that i can do about it. we have had the chance to get together with colin and grayson on a number of occasions. it makes me so happy to be involved with her family, though it saddens me that she is not there to physically be a part of it. but grayson is the spitting image of his mama - it's hard not to think that part of her is there with us during those times. the first time we had colin and grayson over for dinner i overheard grayson tell kinsley, "my mama is an angel up in heaven." kinsley responded, "your mama's an angel?" and he said, "yeah." it was such a sweet, pure moment. i know that grayson feels his mama's presence with him.
while i wish that i had more time with her, had the chance to get to know her better, and had the opportunity to build the friendship i know we would have had, i am so grateful that she came into my life when she did. my heart continues to go out to those who loved and continue to love her. she clearly impacted so many lives and i am thankful to have been given the chance to be a minuscule part of that.
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