In memory of my best friend, With much sadness and deep grief I say good bye for now to my best friend Paula Dollins, who took her life July 2, 2017. The day I met Paula, 9 months ago working in a factory, I felt a instant connection with her, which is very rare for me. I've spent most of my life with very few close friends but for some reason God found a reason for us to meet. We were close to the same age and had experienced a lot of the same ups and downs in our life that we fondly shared during our 12 hour days in 120 degree heat on an assembly line. Both of us determined to make the most of our situation we had some of the best times laughing uncontrollably and acting silly like we were kids again! Together we kicked but and encouraged each other daily to keep going and succeed in what ever we did. I can say that Paula was one of the biggest reasons I was able to face everyday with a positive attitude and a grateful heart. Despite the situation we were in these were some of the best times of my life! We found our strength in each other and I miss her dearly! My friend had one of the biggest hearts, she was kind, compassionate, helpful, hard working, determined, educated, intelligent, creative, giving, worldly and much more than a beautiful soul who reminded me of a dictionary and encyclopedia! She could carry on a conversation about everything! I was amazed at her intelligence and memory. Paula had a lot of interesting experiences and I could tell she was well traveled and had been to a lot of places. She was interested in other people and never met a stranger. Her conversations were unlimited almost to a point that she exhausted me after 8 hours....LOL! Now I miss those long conversations that helped me get through the long hours on the assembly line. How I wish she was still here. When Paula quit the factory 3 weeks ago, I missed her terribly and we vowed to continue our friendship with plans to get together for lunch soon. When I didn't here from her this past week I began to worry about her. How I wished I would have been more persistent and drove to her house to visit her and let her know how much I cared for her. One of the last texts I got from Paula said "she owed me a ton and wanted to take me to dinner" I responded with "You don't owe me anything but your lifetime friendship." Now it is with a heavy heart that my earthly friend is gone and I must wait to continue our lifetime friendship in heaven when we meet again! With all my love, Tammy Ray