This story starts out the same as any childhood story does— I had just moved to a new elementary school and did not know anyone. Obviously, as a first grade girl I wanted to be a Girl Scout, and of course my mom let me, as any mom would. I, like many others, did not get past the first few years of actually being a Girl Scout. Being outside and selling cookies just to get some silly badges was not how I wanted to spend my time. But, out of this experience I gained many friends who I stayed relatively close with all the way through high school. One friend did impact my life more than the rest, and that was Hannah.
Hannah was just another Girl Scout when I met her. We didn’t actually become friends until a year after I joined, but we have stayed friends throughout the rest of our lives. Our parents became friends and we have younger siblings the same age, so we ended up spending a lot of time with each other and became really good friends. We went through patches when we were not friends (middle school is tough and a confusing time for everyone) but we always became friends again.
When I was fifteen, I began to struggle with depression. I had just finished my first year of high school and I did not feel like I fit in to any group. The summer after my freshman year, I spent the night at Hannah’s house. We woke up on Sunday morning and I did not want to go home because I was mad at my mom (probably for something ridiculous), so Hannah asked if I wanted to go to church with her. She had taken me a few times before and I had never really liked it but it was a better option than going home that day. So I went to church with her and we are sitting in the front row, right in front of the pastor. This is when my life changed. I don't remember exactly what the sermon was about that day, but it stuck with me. Then two weeks later, I went with Hannah again. Not because she asked, but because I asked to go. Every single week her dad would take me with them. Every single week I would sit in the same spot in the front row; and I could feel the change happening in me every Sunday. God's undeniable and unending love is what I saw in the church. It got inside me and changed me, so much so that I took the adult classes to become a disciple there.
Over the next three years Hannah and I attended countless bible studies, youth groups, and even a mission trip to Detroit together. We both grew in our faith and who we are as people. Even as high school took us in different directions with our friends and interests, we always had this that we shared. I knew I could always go to Hannah if something was wrong, that she would understand. Now, we are both finishing our first semester of college. Me in Kentucky and her back home. We are on completely different life courses, but we still talk everyday. Hannah continues to remind me of my faith, my home, and what a true friend is.
I do not know if we will always been friends or keep in contact, but her impact on my life will always be there. Everything that she has gone through in her life shows me who I want to be and how I want to help the world. All I can hope for is that she is successful in her life path, and I in mine. And that one day that I can have the impact on someone’s life that an old, childhood friend had on mine.
