For Allie.

It was a rare friendship. Truly, one I don’t think I’ll find again. One that you don’t expect to come in your life and definitely one you don’t expect to go. Both are true for Allie Pile. She was my favorite. Our families knew each other for years, but she was my best friend for only a few. A few years, but a big impact. She changed my life. She was older, wiser (a Queen, really) and I always teased that she had lived 20 lives with all she had experienced.

Saying Cancer won the battle, well it doesn’t fit. She won. Do you want to know why? She LIVED. She chose to live despite the suffering. She chose to love hard. I would always tell her, “you make everything better” and “what’s the point of going without you there?” SO boring. There was a presence about her that immediately made you feel like sunshine. We were different in A LOT of ways. We also shared a lot of the same values and knew how to have fun. She brought out a side to me I never really knew I had:

ADVENTURE.

To be clear, adventure for me starts with calendar rebellion. My hard copy, calendar that I carry around in my purse. Pen to paper, baby. Ignoring it and just going with it= adventure.

When she passed, I told myself that every year around her birthday (July 4th) I would do something wild. For the miss Wild n’ Free herself. She’s been gone for over a year now and last year her sister took me SKYDIVING. Chunks flew, but THAT is for the telling of my first “Adventure with Allie.”

Sincerely,

Brooklynn