Always With Me

Part 29- Becca Lowrey

Ellie, Dahlia, and I sat at a table with Annie, David, Reagan, and all of their children. When Annie invited us all to eat lunch at her house, we were all quick to say 'yes'. Zack was spending his weekend doing some things to prepare him for basic training, so I wouldn't be seeing him until tonight. I had plenty of time to waste until then. Abigail and Natalie were chatting about the Ketchup bottle in front of them while Jase vied for their attention. When he failed to receive that, he turned to Ellie and began poking her with his fork. She didn't seem to mind, though, and soon it became a war between the two. I laughed as I watched them. When Ellie and I began babysitting Jase and Abigail on the weekends, Jase was the quickest to loosen up with Becca and I. He had the strongest personality and that made him thoroughly entertaining. I loved Jase already. Abigail seemed more reserved for a while, but now she talked to me the entire time I was with her. I loved that she loved to talk to people and she had a very strong relationship with God. It amazed me, as a new Christian, to see a child that was so in love with God. Ellie called it a "Child-like faith". Whatever it was, it encouraged me.

Reagan, Annie, and David were all talking to each other while Dahlia, Ellie, and I sat in the middle and talked to both the kids and the adults. It was a very good time to get to know each other, and I began to pray that Annie and Reagan become fast friends. They had a lot in common and I enjoyed being with both of them. Reagan had done so much for Dahlia already, and I couldn't thank her enough for that. Annie had been a constant guidance for me, and I was very thankful for that, also. It would be great to see them be able to be there for each other.

We left the restaurant and I headed to the grocery store. It was mid-afternoon so there wasn't much for me to do besides that. Zack only had about two months until he left for Basic Training in Georgia, which meant that he had to go twice a month to begin training locally. When he wasn't doing that, he had baseball. I spent most of my time now watching him play baseball, and it made me happy to see him play. He was very talented. When he moved to Amory, he was looking forward to baseball season. Now I saw why. Zack led the team's batting average this year, and as the pitcher, he was phenomenal. He could get any scholarship to play baseball, and many schools were already looking to recruit him. But Zack still chose the army.

At seven months pregnant, Dahlia looked as if she could pop at any minute. She usually wore a large shirt, but that still couldn't conceal her large mid-section. She looked as if she could have her baby at any minute, but she still had two months to go. She and Brent were talking again, but they still weren't dating. I think that they were both okay with that. Brent had been such a huge part of Dahlia's life, and I would hate for him to leave now. By the grace of God, he stayed. Now Brent and Dahlia are preparing themselves to have a baby. I didn't think that it had officially sunk into anyone's head yet that they were about to be parents.

I got home from the store and put the groceries away while my dad worked. It was very quiet in my house without him here, so I went up to my room and closed my doors. I'd almost given up completely on running every morning, although that hadn't stopped me from trying to every chance I got. My legs were sore from my morning run, which was something that I hadn't been used to in a while. I tried to stay upstairs, but the silence was too deafening, though, so I went back downstairs and began digging in my kitchen cabinets for a candle that I could light in my bedroom. I knew that we had a few somewhere, so when I left the kitchen empty handed, I walked to the bookshelf against the wall in the living room. There was a drawer against the bottom, but I never opened it. I knew that there had to be a candle in there. When I slid it open, it snagged against something that prevented it from opening all the way. I slid my hand into the darkness and retrieved the lodged item. Resting in my fingers was a note. It was too faded to read, but the envelope appeared to say "Becca". I didn't recognize the handwriting, so I slid my fingers through the paper until the envelope was opened. Inside the envelope was my birth certificate and a picture of my parents holding me as a baby. The names on the birth certificate read: Clark and Angela Lowrey. I sighed as I took a look at the picture. The woman that was holding me in her arms looked a lot like me. She had extremely light blond hair and a rosy face. She had a beautiful, slight smile and her eyes were the same mysterious grey as mine. I took a longing look at the picture and my heart almost physically hurt. The woman staring back at me in the picture was a total stranger, one that I would never know. I wanted to ask her where she was and if I would ever get to meet her, but I knew that the picture could never talk back. She was gone.