Her name was Laurel Elizabeth Smith.
But we all knew her as Bess.
I met Bess about 18 years ago, when she started dating my college roommate and close friend, Ryan Smith.
A couple of weeks ago, we received the devastating news that Bess had gone to be with Jesus, just a few days shy of her 40th birthday.
Bess and Ryan’s December 2007 marriage represented the first nuptial ceremony for our college group. It was an honor serving as a groomsman then.
I remember the wedding being standing room only at North Greenwood Baptist Church.
Bess, a lifelong educator, was an extrovert. At least she had to be when she was hanging out with our group.
She was always full of joy, and she loved Jesus.
About a month after the wedding, on a Friday afternoon, I got a call from Ryan. He told me that he and Bess had been gifted a weekend at a condo in Orange Beach.
Most newly-weds would have loaded up their car and driven to the beach alone.
Ryan and Bess invited their friends to come along. A group of us spent the weekend watching movies, eating at restaurants and looking out over the ocean, even though it was the winter time.
Bess was a pure joy to be around. She was funny, told great stories and was always laughing.
Despite suffering from a rare genetic disorder called XLH, which oftentimes was very painful for Bess, she never stopped smiling when she was around people.
She was always faithful to her elementary school kids in Winona, and she always shared the Gospel with those kids.
Bess became an advocate for the XLH Network, even traveling as far as San Francisco to lobby for better and more advanced treatments for the disease.
That weekend at the beach set the tone for the friendship that we enjoyed for the better part of two decades.
During that time, we have all had our ups and our downs.
When our first child, Anna Beth, was in the hospital at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Ryan and Bess drove over on a Sunday evening.
Bess prayed over our daughter, as she struggled with seizures and other ailments.
That always meant so much to us.
Eventually, Callie and I moved to Alabama, and as it happens often with friendships, we saw less of each other over the last decade.
Even after we moved back to Mississippi, just an hour from their home in Carrolton, I am ashamed to say that I did not visit them as often as a friend should.
A few years ago, Bess asked if we would host Ryan’s 40th birthday party at our home here in Indianola. We had several college friends come over for the cookout. After the sun went down, Ryan and some of the friends hooked their computers up and played video games.
It was just like old times, and Bess knew that was the perfect gift for Ryan that weekend.
Shortly after that, Ryan and Bess announced that they were expecting.
Their daughter is now 4.
Bess also leaves behind her mother and stepfather, along with her brothers.
We are praying daily for each of them.
All I could say to Ryan last week when I saw him was “thank you for bringing Bess into our lives.”
She was an inspiration to so many.
