It\’s been over a decade since we’ve seen each other. And two decades since we’ve spent any real time together. But the unfortunate event of her mother’s passing last week allowed me a long-overdue visit with my dear friend, Shannon.
As my mom and I entered the funeral home last Thursday evening, Shannon’s eyes spilled over with tears.
“I’m fine until I see my friends,” she said, enveloping us in big hugs.
With her precious mother’s body displayed in the open coffin just a few yards behind her, I admired Shannon’s poise and gentleness as she greeted people she barely knew. An only child, she and her mom held a close relationship. But about the time Shannon married and moved to a small, west-Texas town, her mom also married and made a new life in a new community. So throughout the visitation, many of the people filtering through the funeral home were strangers to Shannon and her husband, which of course worked to my advantage, as I had more time to visit than expected.
Corbin and I met Jeremy, Shannon’s husband, about thirteen years ago. We got together one evening for dinner, all recent college graduates and newlyweds, and we oohed and aahed over their newborn son, Ridgdon. Jeremy and Shannon have since added four more children to their family, and we’ve shared several phone conversations over the years, encouraging each other in the arduous tasks of disciplining and training our children. Of course “baby” Ridgdon now towers over me, standing nearly six feet tall. It was a bit shocking to see him all grown up – I don’t suppose I’ll ever get used to the startling passage of time.
I knew that Ross Ann, Shannon’s mother, was sick, that she had only days to live. So when my mom and I drove to Arlington to be with Shannon last week, my intent was to provide comfort in the form of a few hugs and words. But as often happens, I was the one comforted, refreshed and reassured. The forty-five minutes spent in Shannon’s company has had me thinking all week.
First, and most striking, Shannon is content.
She lives in a small (tiny!) town, married to a fifth-generation Roby, TX farmer. And she loves her life. Loves her husband. Loves her children. Doesn’t own a computer, which means no email, Facebook, or iphoto. I cannot imagine the time she saves not sitting in front of a screen. As for online shopping, she has no need to keep up with home decor or clothing trends, as it’s just not part of her world. And here’s the deal – if she looked like a country bumpkin, I’d relegate her lifestyle to a “different world” altogether, and not even see my life through her lens. But she’s beautiful, intelligent, and a wise mama. Did I mention beautiful? She’d give any Fort Worth woman I know a run for her money.
As for motherhood, Shannon is overjoyed, and just plain grateful to get to get to spend her days with those Terry children. Her first three are about a year apart each (14 to 11), and the last two babes are a toddler and newborn. She and Jeremy both said they find this “round two” of parenting enjoyable and refreshing, because they know how quickly it goes. They’re more relaxed, laugh a lot, and in Shannon’s words, “I actually let them get dirty!” The older kids laugh constantly at the little ones, and I can see in Shannon’s countenance a deep gratitude for getting to live and spend her days with these children.
As we hugged goodbye in the parking lot, Shannon held onto my mom for a few seconds and said, for the second time that evening, “Claudene, you just don’t know what your home meant to me growing up. You just don’t know. Being in your home, going to church with your family, it transformed the way I saw family life. Growing up, I thought my childhood was normal. Because looking around, so many of our friends’ homes were just like mine, I didn’t know any different. But your home really was the different one – it changed me.”
After her little outpouring, Shannon looked at me and laughed, “You too, Tonya, you were a good friend to me, too.”
But her words were meant for Mom. For the one who opened her home to all kinds of kids, all kinds of families. Who let me spend the night at Shannon’s small duplex across from our high school, even as her mom would stay out until all hours of the night. Never mind that my clothes and hair reeked of smoke when I came home. And in turn, Mom let me have Shannon spend the night even on Saturday nights with church the next morning (often after staying over Friday night as well). Mom, who drove us all around town from one cheerleading event to the next, often shuttling not only Shannon around, but any other friends whose parents were unavailable to pick up and take.
In fact, when I consider the friends who spent the most time at our house – the friends who became like siblings – they weren’t from Christian homes with a set of Christ-minded parents. They were simply the ones who needed that home. And Mom (and Dad!) never blinked, never had to make a choice to “let” those kids be a part of our lives. 
As Mom and I drove from the funeral home that evening to catch part of a baseball game, I asked her how she felt comfortable letting me spend that kind of time with families “not like ours” – staying at their homes, spending the night, even going on vacations. Mom shrugged her shoulders, glanced over at me, and said, “Ton, I trusted you. You made good decisions, and I trusted the Lord would protect you.”
I’ve been touched all week, thinking of the Lord\s work in Shannon’s lovely heart. Even in a home where she wasn’t directly taught of God’s perfect love for her, Shannon, in time, came to know Him in a deep way, as did her mom. He provided friends, mentors, high school youth leaders, and a fantastic college experience with Christian friends and Bible studies to cement her faith. And then a gentle, loving husband to love and work alongside in raising five fun kiddos.
Thank you, Lord, for Ross Ann\’s life, which in turn gave us Shannon’s life, which in turn touches so many with your love. I’m grateful to you for this friend, for what she teaches me of your ways.