Samantha

Let me tell you about one of the greatest people in this world. Her name is Samantha.

This is Sam.

Isn't she beautiful?

Once upon a time, many moons again, I was a little seventh grader trying to make some friends. I had science with Ms. Lenz, and didn't know many people. But there was this one girl. She had all this curly thick hair, and was always so... bubbly. We actually found ourself bonding over our bounds of naturally curly hair, but it mostly was just generic talk. Neither of us knew, at the time, that that class and that meeting was the start of a very important friendship. That year she wrote this in my year book:

Lauren-

I [heart] you!

Have a gr-8 summer.

/Sam

It was in 8th grade that our friendship really blossomed. I still, to this day, remember the first time I ever went to her house. And from that point on... we were inseparable. I spent the next 7 years having countless sleepovers on her giant love sac. Drinking homemade apple juice out of my very own money mug. Fires in the fire pit in her backyard. Movie making with Millie. Watching movie after movie. Funny youtube videos. Holding baby chickens. Therapy sessions with her amazing mother. Asking to dances. Going to dances. Going to football games. Learning to drive a stick shift. Painting our shirts for powderpuff. Throwing amazing parties. Showering together after whitewashing the V. 2 trips to Disneyland, countless to St. George, one to Vegas, and the fun in between. Campaigning for my office run sophomore year. Campaigning for her SBO run senior year. Relationship triumphs and woes. Titanic. Pear Harbor. Shrimp. The Great Dal Moody! BREADSTICKS!!! Midnight Showings.  And so many more memories. 

It's safe to say that this girl has a safe spot in my heart and will for the rest of my life. Sam has helped me grow. She has dealt with my moodiness, and listened to me vent. She has cried with me. She has jumped for joy with me. For the past several years, and countless to come, Samantha will forever be my very best friend, and my sister. 

This was what she wrote in my Senior yearbook:

Lauren Loock

Gee. We've had the most exciting, fun-loving memories. 

You have helped me become a better person more than you know.

You are entirely my best friend and I can't imagine life without you.

So obviously this is not the end for us :) I love you and I will remember

you forever. You have so many incredible things ahead of you,

So live it up!! I love you again.

Love, Sam

So as you can see, we have most definitely come a long way from 7th grade. And 20 years from now, when we meet up with our husbands and children, I will still see that girl in my seventh grade science class with the thick curly hair. I will still see the girl who changed my life in so many ways. I will see my best friend, Samantha, and realize how blessed I was to have had her wander into my life. 

I love you, Sam! 

                                    

 

                                          

Sam just got her call to serve an LDS mission to Lisbon, Portugal. I would just like to publicly congratulate her and tell her that she is going to do amazing things. Have you ever heard the saying "He's a man among men?" Well Samantha is a woman among women. She has come so far and she can only go further from here. Love you Sam. "I'll never forget you!"

Here's to Sam!