Corrie and I met in Mrs. Adkins first grade class. She had just moved here and I was the first friend that she made in town. We are still friends to this day, nearly twenty years later. Mrs. Adkins and I have always stayed in touch and Corrie's family, since her mom was a teacher too, became close family friends over th years of the first grade teacher responsible for our meeting. We didn't see eachother much, Mrs. Adkins and I, over the last few years but whenever we did she was always so kind and so proud of the woman I had become. She became a lifelong teacher and friend.

Mrs. Adkins died earlier this week. The funeral is tomorrow. The sadness is something that carries with it twenty years of friendship and relationships that will last the rest of my life.

I can't remember a holiday season that has been as trying as this one.