Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Rest in Peace, My Friend

Monday I learned that a friend of mine passed away the day before.

I was on the way to Washington DC to stay with a friend, a different friend, for a week while she had surgery.

You know it's not going to be good news when someone calls you and, upon being informed you are in your car and driving, gently asks you to find a place to pull over so they can tell you something.

This was an hour or so after Isaac and I had stopped to take a lovely hike on a trail beside a beautiful lake. I was just getting ready to eat the other half of the sandwich I'd packed for my lunch. After I'd heard the news, I just sat there for a while. 

I remembered how my friend had sent me a box of dog toys and treats right after I got Isaac. One of the toys, a red thing made of the material fire hoses are made from (and therefor almost indestructible), Isaac still has. He and Jamie play keep away with it.

This friend not only donated money so I could afford to bring Whiskers home from Nebraska, she organized a GoFundMe to encourage others to donate. She is probably the reason I could afford to make the trip.

I sat there in my car and thought about how she was going to come visit me soon. We were going to go explore old country graveyards and she was going to photograph them.

She died in her sleep.

I sat there in my car for a while, and finally decided I needed to get back on the road. I had about two hours still to go. And I needed to eat my sandwich. It's so strange, how life goes on, you know?

She'd asked if I could visit her soon. I'd told her after the first of the year.

We always think there's plenty of time, don't we?

My friends are too young to die. I am too young to have friends that die in their sleep.

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