A Friend in Need...

...became my friend in deed and indeed.

Once upon a time (yes, it was that long ago) when Beth was about 2 months old, I was at the end of my rope.  I had four small children, a husband in a brand new job (working at home), a brother-in-law living with us, and all the various every day things that life throws at us. I was barely hanging on.

One day Ray arranged for us to have a weekend away in Vancouver, BC (just a couple of hours up the road from Kirkland, WA). Our friend Inge agreed to have Audrey and Debra for the weekend, and Austin (who was living with us) said he'd be happy to keep our two-year-old Ray. We would take the baby with us.

I was packing our things and getting everyone ready to go when Ray asked me if there wasn't anyone I knew who would take Beth for the weekend. I thought he was crazy. Who leaves their two month old with someone she hardly knows? Who leaves their two month old, period? How hard is a tiny baby like that to cart around? I told him I didn't know anyone. He really pushed me to think of someone. He doesn't usually do that, but he sure did this time. I finally thought of Betty Olcott, whom I had seen at church, always holding someone's baby for them. He said, "Give her a call."

I was mortified. I didn't think there was any way she would do it, and I was so embarrassed to ask. But I did call anyway. Miracle of miracles, she said she'd be happy to. Now, who in the world is really happy to have a two month old who is not a grandchild for an entire weekend? She told me her husband was working a lot of overtime, and she'd be happy to have Beth for company.

Yes, I left Beth with her. We left for the weekend, and it was the most rest I'd had in months and months. I truly believe that it kept me from having a nervous breakdown. I regard Betty as my own personal angel.

That weekend spawned a friendship that has lasted the twenty-three years since then. 

About  seventeen years ago Trish arranged for four of us to go to lunch together. Trish, Betty Olcott, Jaimee Hansen, and me. At first we went to lunch on our birthday months. Then we decided that wasn't often enough, and we began going to lunch once a month. A couple of other women joined us once in a while, Janice Thorne and Andrea Wootten in particular, but I don't think the original four ever missed a month!

Betty moved up north about an hour away and still came for lunch every month. Then Jaimee got married and moved to Utah. Then Trish moved to Utah. Then I moved to Utah.  Poor Betty was left alone in the Northwest. We began meeting for lunch here in Utah with a few other friends that moved here from our neighborhood in Washington. We still have lunch every month, and I always look forward to it.

But I miss Betty. It's not the same without her. Luckily she comes to town once in a while, and usually calls. A couple of weeks ago Trish and I met Betty for lunch here in Sandy. What a treat!

Diane, Betty, Trish

She's still an angel in my life. Wisdom and life skills have come my way because of her. I have learned how to serve cheerfully and quietly from her. I can't even begin to list all the ways she has enriched my life. But I can tell you the very first time she made a difference: that weekend in February 1988.

Thank you Betty!