Mags

Cranky, cranky, cranky. Bam it. Yet another friend leaving. (Maggie, to Spokane, WA) We are going to miss our Schierberls very much. I remember Maggie first appearing at a spouse's social that Jenn and Jaimee were hosting at Jaimee's house. Maggie had brought along a cranky little Jacob who was not very old. I was out for the first time, I believe, without baby Brenna. We were probably overwhelming to Maggie, insisting that she didn't have to leave the room to nurse, offering our breast pumps for borrowing, and at the end of the night, insisting, "Maggie, we have playgroup on Fridays. Be there or we will hunt you down." She told us later that she was relieved to meet "normal" people and was excited to finally have some friends here in our little town.

Now we really aren't all that normal. But it was so sweet that Maggie thought we were. :) And she came to playgroup and fit in so well that we told her we'd be changing her name to Jaggie (the rest of us had J-names.) And Annabelle and Jakey fit right in with our whole gang and soon they were splashing in the pools and plowing through the tubs of toys with all of our munchkins. These kiddos have grown up together so much in the past 3 years.

Maggie has such a calming presence and a gentle spirit. She's one of those people who you gravitate towards just because of who they are inside. I believe God puts us in each other's lives for a reason. He knew I needed Maggie to be a quiet, calming influence in the midst of the chaos that was my life the first year of Brenna being with us. I particularly remember one time when Maggie brought A and J over to play. Sydney was having just a lovely (insert heavy sarcasm here) day. She was having a very long and drawn out temper tantrum. I was embarassed and overwhelmed. Finally, I put Syd in her crib and let her scream a little. Soon the screaming stopped and a few seconds later, she came waltzing into the living room. She had learned to climb out of her crib. Oh boy! I knew it was the start to what promised to be an amazing time (not) in my life. Maggie told me later, "I wish you could have seen the look on your face. It was like you were shell-shocked or something."

Anyhoo, Mags has been there through the thick and thin of the craziness that is parenting toddlers. We have all traded kids back and forth so much that there's just no telling who is at whose house at any given time. We have traded not only kids, but stories, encouragement, ideas, support, tears, hugs and high fives. In short, this kind of friendship is a gift straight from God.

We grow accustomed to saying goodbye every several years, as Air Force Spouses. But it never gets easier.

Maggie, thank you for everything. I wish you safe journeys, new friends, and much happiness. I hope our Air Force paths cross again one day. Until then, thank God for Facebook and the telephone. Love you!


(Schierberls, circa 2007)