Bakey

As many of you know, this past week I lost one of my close friends. It's been a difficult time, and I found it fitting to blog about her. I hope you enjoy learning about my wonderful friend who we lovingly called "Bakey".

 

Bakey and I met 8 years ago while working together at Dairy Queen. It's amazing, after all these years (10 to be exact!) that I am still friends with the "DQ Crew" despite the fact that four of us have since moved away. Below is a picture of us post-DQ when all of us were in town for the 4th of July in 2007.



Me, Jess, Bakey, Ang, Beth, Hope and Allison is in the front

I grew up with these girls! We always said we would remain friends, and people (our mothers, our boss...) said it would never happen...we proved them all wrong!

Bakey was a special individual. She was ALWAYS in a good mood...I know this is cliche' to say once someone has passed away, but it's the honest to goodness truth! This girl always had a smile on her face, and was always up for a good time. When there was a party, she was the life of it. She was constantly making us laugh with the crazy stuff she did. She'd never bat an eyelash to "taking one for the team" all for the sake of a laugh and a story in the morning. To sum it up, Bakey was good times! Every "Bakey Story" I have makes me laugh or smile :-)

Bakey and I were a part of a group called the "SLF", which stood for "Sad Life Friends"...lol! It's not what you think, we were anything but sad when together, in fact, quite the contrary. In high school we were the girls who didn't have cars and needed our parents to cart us around, didn't have cell phones while all the other kids did, and most definitely didn't have boyfriends - lol. Instead of feeling bad for ourselves, we poked fun of our situations and instead made it a competition to see who had the saddest life. Writing this I can already hear people thinking, "Okay, these girls are weird!" but we had the understanding of it and it was fun for us. I may have gotten the boot when I got married...lol...but we got a great picture of the 5 of us, which I will forever cherish :-)

I was actually with Bakey the night before her untimely death in a car crash, which made things a bit more difficult to handle. It was hard to see this girl, so full of life one night, and then realize that she's gone the next. When I step back and think of it though, I thank God that I had the last night with her, because I will treasure it in my heart and mind forever.

Our last night together kicked off with my car battery dying, and me almost canceling our plans...that is until our friend Jamie (who was also involved in the accident) insisted she would come and pick me up. Bakey and Jamie were already at the restaurant and went out of their way to come and get me so I could join. Over dinner I remember reminiscing about old times, planning their upcoming trip to visit me in Nashville, and making plans together for Labor Day. I knew they both felt bad they would be missing my going-away party the following night, since they had gotten backstage passes to the Toby Keith concert. I knew I'd miss them being there, but was ultimately happy to be having dinner with them, and also excited for our Labor Day cookout plans! I'm so happy we had that night together, but I do have one regret...I didn't hug Bakey goodbye. I instead just said "I'll see you on Monday, have fun at the concert tomorrow night!" If I could go back I'd hug that girl so tight!

I found out the news of the accident as my going-away party was winding down. Thank God I had some of my other friends there to help pull me through. It was shocking and heart-wrenching. Jamie and Bakey were in the car together when they hit a pickup truck head-on. Jamie survived it, but Bakey didn't. A woman who saw the crash wrote on the Obituary Website that Bakey didn't die alone, and she didn't suffer.

My heart breaks for Bakey's family, but it also aches for Jamie. I went to see her at the hospital before I left for Nashville and she is doing well. She had to have back surgery (which went well) and also has to have surgery on her foot. Her other foot is broken, as are a bunch of her ribs. She's got a long road to recovery in front of her, but thankfully she's going to okay. Please keep her in your prayers! She has such a sweet heart and doesn't deserve to be hurting.

Typically funerals aren't very beautiful, but Bakey's funeral was an exception. The songs, the readings, everything was so well said. The priest couldn't have had a better message for us mourning Bakey's untimely death. I think it's safe to say he made all of us smile through his tears as he said "Many wrote on Becky's Facebook wall "Rest In Peace", which is a great thing to say when someone passes away, but Becky, rest??? She's not resting! She's dancing! She's "Dancing In Peace" - I absolutely loved his message, and I know it's so true. Bakey never rested, and she's not resting now. She's living it up in heaven reunited with her dad!

I will forever miss Bakey. A part of my heart went up to heaven with her. Dance In Peace Bakey 0:-) I'll forever cherish all of our fun times and memories...

Cheers!



Before a Pirate game

Reunion while Hope was in town



My Bridal Shower



Povertyneck Hillbillies Concert!



After we got to meet the lead singer, Abby!



Cake fight during a visit to RMU



SLF Presidency night - lol!



"Our Horse" and Us :-)



Fourth of July

SLF :-)