The Story of #WOMENUP!

Part One
   My name is Diane. I am living proof that good can come from evil. I have reached a time in my life where I am able to share my story and to pay tribute to a lost friend. It is my hope that in doing so, others going through life-altering events can know it is possible to come out ok. Different, but ok. And to offer some reassurance that there can be a lot of life left to live.
   When I was eighteen, I was waiting tables with a friend I'll call Ellie. I don't know that she would mind the use of her real name, but she's not here to say so. She was almost five feet tall, with untamed blonde hair and big brown eyes. She looked like a baby doll, but she had a loud, commanding voice that came unexpectedly from such a small girl. She was fun-loving, full of laughter, and I loved her. We grew up on the same block, with bullying fathers and long-suffering mothers.
   We decided to share an apartment. Rents weren't too expensive then. I hear they are now. I don't know, I haven't been back.
   We found a furnished place in a neighborhood that was better than the one we came from, didn't worry too much about locking the door, and friends and friends of friends would come and go at all hours. Ellie switched to the night shift. Our landlord couple were only a few years older than we were and cool about parties.
   We made our own money, we had our own place, we were independent young women. Then one day Ellie didn't come home.