My Best Friend

We have all had a BFF at one time or another. And I like to say that I have a lot of people in my life I consider my best friends. One of my newest best friends is Converse's school of music piano curator, Benny Mixon. Benny Mixon has become a cheerleader, best friend, confidant, and grandpa for so many at the school of music. Benny has been there to hold me as I cry after a fight with my best friend or an awful clarinet lesson. But he has also been at every performance to congratulate me on a job well done. He is there to pick me and my friends up at night to go to Dairy Queen when we need a study break and he is there to remind us that the boy that broke our heart was a "good for nothing boy" when we need a man.

Benny Mixon

I think what makes Benny so special is that he sees the potential in each and every one of us. He sees the beauty that is sometimes hidden beneath a cloud of uncertainty and lack of confidence. But most of all he has a wealth of knowledge and advice that he is more than willing to share. It doesn't hurt that he also has a stash of peppermint patties and sodas in his den.

Biltmore Trip

Sophomore Ring Ceremony

Freshman year both my parents were battling cancer and as an only child it was very stressful to be so far away from my family. Seeing the stress I was carrying around Benny opened up to me about his own struggle with the disease. Benny has been battling cancer for the past many years and likes to joke that the chemo has made him one of the girls because he often becomes very weepy. But I think that instead of making him one of the girls it makes him what a girl needs. We don't need men to be one of the girls and swap cry stories with us, but we would like men to sympathize and feel with us the sadness or anger that we are struggling with. We need more than a pat on the back and an "I'm sorry." We want someone to say "I know exactly how you feel and it sucks." Benny feels so strongly every emotion within himself and those that he sees the girls at Converse feeling. This emotional connection helps make him who he is and what makes him so special to so many people.
I pray for the day that he is cancer free, but thank God for blessing him with a special gift to connect with so many of us lost and scared girls. Love always to my best friend <3